WHERE DOES
ONE START? THERE IS SO MUCH TO CHOOSE FROM, Civil Servants in Jobcentres, The
Inland Revenue, The Department of Work and Pensions, The Council and
Councillors, Members of Parliament, National Health Service and a Mayor...... we
will show you all of these, name them and reveal how they are fleecing the
taxpayer and covering their tracks with lies, deceit and corruption.

What you
see on these pages is only the tip of the iceberg, we only get to do a fraction

CIVIL SERVANTS are supposed to be ordinary
people just making a living, but don't be fooled, they are nothing of the sort.
They agree to sign up to the Official Secrets Act and have Crown Protection,
they are bought and paid for in their salaries, and they will treat other
members of public with contempt and complete disregard if they choose to do so.
They cannot be challenged with total success and proving anything against them
is a waste of time, you will lack evidence and they will subvert all and any
enquiries. Any decision made against them will be internal and they claim that
data protection covers this even if they uphold a complaint, any action
disciplinary or otherwise will not be published or known to the complainant.

The Complaints system in the DWP and Jobcentre
is designed to take six months (with several tiers)

The Complaints/Appeal system in the Tax
and Inland Revenue will take four months or even longer.

The Complaints system in the Council can last
over twelve months or more.

Most Court Actions rely on the claimant going
through one of the systems mentioned and if you chose not to (because you cannot
trust them) the Judge will probably strike out your claim ---- your
freedom of choice has been eroded completely.

Just lately, in the Spring of 2009 The Daily
Telegraph exposed the Fraud and Corruption in the House of Parliament, and it
went very deep. The public were shocked at how many pigs were in the
trough helping themselves in the grand name of expenses - The Expenses Scandal -
the attempted cover-ups and denials. But one group has been missed in this
expose by The Telegraph --- The Civil Servants.

So let us get down to business and expose some
of them here:

' Where Government Corruption Started '

IT MORE OR LESS STARTED IN THE 16TH CENTURY,
as with the Police, corruption in government isn't a new thing, no, it began
around 1700 with ' THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE ' a bubble that burst exposing the
government and those who dealt with shares and a company that had no assets.
It led to a financial scandal of huge proportions. Investment and shares
was the game (not unlike the recent banking scandal), and the government were in
the thick of it. The South Sea Company was in trouble, it showed a deficit
in the accounts and owed the Chancellor £14million (in that time!), which was
half the size of the National Debt. Thomas Brodrick for the Government was
looking into these affairs as they had become very serious for the country.
He told MP's he had uncovered the largest scene of villainy and fraud that was
ever perpetrated. ' The Committee of Secrecy' - yes, one can hardly
believe that eh? a government department said the company ledgers had
false and fictitious entries. Before they could complete their findings,
some of the Company books went missing and others were destroyed. Brodrick
dropped a 'bombshell' in the House of Commons, as he declared that he had
evidence of corruption at the heart of government -- exposing that Sunderland
had taken bribes, and that Robert Knight had concealed Sunderland's role at the
request of John Blunt. Deputy Governor Charles Joye said Knight insisted
that £100,000 worth of stock shares should be reserved for ' the friends' of
Sunderland. The Commons listened to news of corruption on a staggering
scale -- and share dealings carried out by the Treasury Secretary Charles
Stanhope that were amazing. The Committee could not find any evidence of
Stanhope paying for 10,000 shares he claimed, then worth £25,000. As the
calamity unfolded more names in the house were exposed all going up to the King,
professional investors and the Church. Yet when it came down to charging
them with crimes, (the government lawyers were hurriedly changing the law
and its interpretation) - they were all protected from the full force of
justice? The Public were outraged, but there was little they could do,
they didn't have power over soldiers, legislators, all favourable to the
government and Crown, and it just faded into history.

DOESN'T THAT ALL SOUND FAMILIAR TODAY?

HMRC - the untouchables -- or corruption on a
new level?

ONE GROUP OF CIVIL SERVANTS HAVE MORE
PROTECTION AND POWER THAN THE OTHERS and that branch is known as HER MAJESTY'S
CUSTOMS AND EXCISE and THE INLAND REVENUE -- HMRC --who can practice it in the utmost secrecy without fear of
prosecution or investigation -- No Minister has authority over them -- There is no known investigation that has ever been
successfully lodged against this branch of civil servants because of the
immunity they have been granted. The power they have was never granted by the
people of Britain it came from the politicians and the judiciary.

610 hmrc staff disciplined, dismissed and
other - this recently found report comes from when the merger of the Customs and
Inland Revenue became one. It was claimed at the time that this was the
total for 3 years and only represented one percent from 2005 to 2008. We
did one of their type taxman assessments and arrived at a possible figure of now
2,440 and a rate of just around 5 per cent 'bent' staff existing nowadays.

The full article can be seen further down the
list, much further down I may add.

We list the following cases, reports and articles in
support of another Web Owner who contacted us for information to put on his site
which entirely focuses on the Inland Revenue and Excise Officers.

' Customs and Excise Elite
Squad investigated for Corruption '

Police claimed that
officers of the Customs National Investigation Service were being investigated
for corruption. They said some officers in Customs Excise were allowing
informers to sell on heroin. It is stated that Customs officers have skimmed
off a proportion of seized drugs to resell on the black market. The inquiry
will look at a number of officers who have perverted the course of justice.
Doubts over covert Customs operations have seen four separate major court cases
collapse during a three year period. The Police would not say how many Customs
officers were under investigation claiming they did not have the power or
authority to act as they normally do in other cases.

' TOO MUCH POWER GIVEN TO
CUSTOMS '

GRAHAM ZELLICK a former
Principal of Queen Mary and Westfield College was alarmed that a customs officer
should have the power to override a decision in the criminal courts. Such power
should rest with the Home Secretary. A review of their status should be checked
as they are not above the law even though they think it.' he said in a
statement.

'TWO
CROOKED HMRC CUSTOMS OFFICERS JAILED' -- The report says that two customs
officers were part of a smuggling gang operating in Ramsgate. It revealed
the role of two HMRC employees, PAUL WEAVER and colleague STEVEN PHILLIPS of
Folkestone. It was stated at Southwark Crown Court that the officers waved
through lorry loads of contraband destined for Manchester. The Tax Scam
was fairly massive as five shipments of bootlegged vodka and cigarettes valued
at millions of pounds were taken through to their destination by the two
officers who were notified by the gang when the lorries would be arriving at the
port. Being in receipt of a good payout the two customs men made sure
other officers were not around when these shipments arrived. We were not
told how they could effect this. They both admitted to one count of
conspiracy to contravene customs duties and tax evasion. Weaver received 4
years and Phillips, four and a half years by Southwark Crown Court. (Aug
2006)

'HMRC CUSTOMS MAN IN DRUGS
PLOT' -- RICHARD RILEY was thought to be an upstanding officer
according to many others in the fight against tax evasion and smuggling.
But in reality he was making huge sums of cash from drug smuggling deals he
struck with some Caribbean Drug Lords. It was said in court that he simply
used his position for self gain and used anyone in his scam, including his wife,
kids, social worker and friends, and he was living in a grand house in Dulwich,
London. The Judge at Southwark Crown Court said 'Instead of protecting
public money, and helping to stamp out crime, he was actively engaging in it.
He was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

'HMRC CUSTOMS OFFICER
DENIES HELPING GANGSTERS FOR SHARE OF LOOT' -- PAUL COOK, a HM Customs and
Excise 'handler' for two gangsters, appeared at Kingston Crown Court on a charge
of helping the men scam their way to a Royal Pardon, which enabled them to get
out of prison early. Both prisoners had turned 'Grasses' - 'giving Queens
Evidence' at the time when they were arrested for heroin trafficking in 1993.
They told Cook where a cache of guns and drugs could be located in Merseyside.
Cook is charged with helping the two men pervert the course of justice and
misconduct in public office.

'
Customs Officer arrested for groping women in trains '

A SENIOR OFFICER NICHOLAS SHAW appeared in court
accused of groping women in busy and crowded trains. Manchester Crown Court
heard that there were a number of incidents involving women who claimed they had
been touch up by Mr. Shaw during their journeys. A fifth woman said she felt
uncomfortable when Shaw stood so close to her on the train.

HIGH RANKING CUSTOMS
OFFICER'S NAME KEPT SECRET BY OFFICIALS - We have been prevented from naming a
senior customs man by the Ministry. Our Private Detective Richard was following
a lead based on a tip-off that a senior customs man was corrupt and in the habit
of taking bribes in order to make things okay for his contacts. Richard found
this to be the case and made enquiries about the man and his personal life that
in turn showed us the cause and reason he was engaged in certain activities that
would eventually jail the ordinary man in the street. However, when we checked
with the customs and excise we were forbidden to name the man, and there has
been no case in the papers relating to it, so it appears to be secret and one of
those things that this government are good at, and that goes for the police who
we mentioned at the beginning who were investigating several customs men in our
first article

NO CUSTOMS
OFFICERS HAVE BEEN NAMED OR CHARGED -- THE INVESTIGATION AND DETAILS HAVE JUST
VANISHED?

'HMRC CUSTOMS OFFICER IS CONVICTED OF RAPE' -
Customs Officer KELVIN BENNETT of Birmingham appeared before a jury at Maidstone
Crown Court, accused of raping and kidnap. The woman who was not named for
legal reasons said she was 21 when Bennett forced her into his car and drove to
a quiet remote location to commit the crime. She gave testimony to further
attacks by Bennett who almost seemed to get away with it due to his position in
the Inland Revenue! The Judge said Bennett had totally betrayed his
position of trust. At the time of this report his sentencing was deferred
to another date. (6/8/2008)

' Customs VAT man in
spanking tax dodge '

CUSTOMS TAX INSPECTOR
PHIL McHUGH only spanked female bottoms, shapely ones, and gave the girls £30 to
£100 for photos while he spanked them. He said ' you won't have to pay any tax
-- it's all cash in hand '. He worked in the Customs and Excise Investigations
Department in Blackburn, Lancashire. The Department later said they were
looking into his activities.

TAX INSPECTOR JAILED OVER BLACKMAIL -- PHILIP
McHUGH was found guilty at St Albans Crown Court of Blackmail. It was said that
he made a demand for £1million from TESCO and threatened to bomb the store if
the ransom was not paid. The 52 year-old also threatened to contaminate
products at the store in Lancashire. It was stated that he was addicted to
gambling online and had debts of £37,000.

NB: The HMRC refused to
say whether the 'two' McHugh's were the same....and pretended not to know!

Yes you're not seeing
double, we know it is the same taxman involved in the two cases. Having now linked these
cases together it certainly needs questions asked at the HMRC in Blackburn, and
answers? - What activities did they look into regarding the spanking
situation and how is it they missed the gambling debts and his eventual prison
sentence for blackmail.

HMRC Customs officer grabbed
in Corruption Raid by Cops'

The following reports may
be linked by the mere connection of it being a '50 year old HMRC Officer,
totally unnamed of course! So we go first to -- A/ This is OPERATION
ELVEDEN Scotland Yard's investigation into allegations of corrupt payments to
police and public officials. The Report says at the time they had made the
29th arrest, they claim to have arrested a 50 year old HMRC employee, who was
arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office contrary to common law and
suspicion of corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. The
report hints at 'Phone Hacking' in conjunction with another police operation
called 'Operation Weeting' 16th of August ? London.

B/ We now go to 'Customs
Officer Arrested' 30th June 2009 --- The Kent Police stated that among seven
people arrested on the suspicion of drug trafficking, a Customs Officer aged 50,
was involved. The name of the man was withheld for apparently no reason
one could ascertain, and it says he was subsequently granted bail?

So, is this one officer,
or is it two separate cases? we couldn't find anything else on this, so
we'll leave it with you.

FORMER CUSTOMS MAN
TELLS OUR PRIVATE DETECTIVE THAT THEY GET TIP-OFFS WHEN TROUBLE SURROUNDS THEIR
DEPARTMENT OR AN INVESTIGATION IS ABOUT TO BE MADE --' PAPERS GO MISSING AND
OTHERS ARE SHREDDED - WE ARE GOOD AT THAT - He said.

'Customs Withhold vital evidence from Defence
Lawyers'

In this Customs case we see the darker side of
their lawyers and what they are prepared to do --- The report into the HMRC
Customs Court Case involving 7 men convicted of a 105 million pound fraud
reveals that the men had their convictions quashed because of the 'Misconduct of
HMRC Lawyers' who kept vital information secret from the accused men's
solicitors and Lawyers. The report goes onto say this is but another
failure amid allegations of misbehaviour by Customs Investigators. It says
out of 90 defendants accused by the HMRC, 30 or so had their convictions
overturned with the expectancy that the remainder would follow. It is said
that these failures have been at a huge cost to the taxpayers, around 10 million
pounds, and those who had already been imprisoned (due to suspect evidence) were
in line for millions of pounds in compensation. Crown Counsel Noel Lucas
said in court that the Customs did not accept that officers deliberately
diverted fraudulent traders from the London City Board to Fort Patrick as part
of an 'illegal' sting operation. Mr Justice Butterfield after the collapse
of the case made it understood that he was to be given unrestricted access to
customs staff, papers and facilities, so that he could make a report for
Parliament with a view that they would take action on the department.
(22/1/2003)

NB. One should note that although these HMRC
lawyers practised to deceive by withholding evidence, they can't be got because
of the present law and the Legal Profession that allows this....there were
others within the Inland Revenue that were part of that cover-up who relied on
the Law to work in their favour.

'Two Senior Customs Officials (one a Lawyer) are
Suspended'

This case or Fraud Inquiry netted two Senior
HMRC men for activities into 'non-disclosure of evidence' in a major fraud case
(not unlike the above case). TERRY BYRNE, the Director of Law Enforcement
and DAVID PICKUP its Chief Lawyer, were on a list of 20 names which contained
retired and serving officials held by Scotland Yard Police as being under
investigation in the fraud case. This was at a time when HMRC enjoyed the
privilege of its own autonomous powers to investigate in fraud cases itself, and
this troubled other departments who criticised them for such actions as
'non-disclosure' and other failings. They were allowed to use their own
Lawyers rather than the CPS....soon after that privilege was ended. John
Healey, Treasury Minister, announced that a new structure would ensure the
external scrutiny at the Customs in order to show the Public accountability and
assure them about the honesty of the Customs which up to then had ruled itself.
Five of the Customs men on the list and involved in the fraud were moved to
other duties, while six other officers were returned to work as it was said
'they didn't deal with anything sensitive', one other officer was classified as
'a witness' and six others were never referred to as if they'd disappeared, and
what happened after that was kept quiet?

NB Yet again we see some fancy footwork by
ministers who seem determined to fend off all attacks or scrutiny of the HMRC.
(30/9/2004)

'A State of Corruption: Fraud and the birth of
British Customs Taxation c.1550 to 1590'

a look at the taxation beginnings -- This was
written by Oliver Buxton-Dunn in 2015 in a short publication that can be seen
online:

'Fraud and corruption were not side issues,
but rather intimate with the very birth of this new modern taxation
administration'

'
HMRC Investigator in fraud '

JONATHAN MIDDUP an
Investigator with the Inland Revenue was found guilty of fraudulently obtaining
£16,000 in benefits for his wife -- he aided and abetted her scam to swindle for
income support, housing benefit and council tax in Hucknell. The deception
was calculated and the plan to let his wife sign on as a single parent was
carried through. Nottingham Magistrates Court found Middup guilty of
dishonesty, the Judge said ' It is appalling that this man was a criminal
investigator for the HMRC ' He was given an 8 weeks suspended prison
sentence suspended for 12 months.

' Those H & M Revenue &
Customs blunders '

HER MAJESTY'S REVENUE AND
CUSTOMS, yes, not so squeaky clean either as we show you here.

Retired David Betson had
regular problems with tax codes etc, and what was annoying was that this kind of
thing continued over and over again despite contacting them he said. He made a
formal complaint, but guess what? he hasn't had a reply or anything from them.

Elizabeth Booker had a
tax demand for £858 going back over a two-year period. She was now retired and
the mix up again was tax codes, but still the matter had not been sorted. Even
after contacting them she still was sent the wrong codes.

George Stewart tried to get two
tax rebates owing to him after tax was taken incorrectly from his saving
accounts. This matter went on for 18 months, yet he was promised by someone at
the centre that he would receive a response by September 2010, it never
happened?

Mary Stephen got a shock
when the tax people said she owed £3,207 in underpaid tax. After approaching the
tax office on several occasions and getting more stressed she was dumbfounded to
find out that they thought she had a second job at a place she has never worked?

Stan Bradburn was sent a
bill by the tax people for £3,200 which stated he had been underpaying for two
years. After much effort and running around for faceless tax collectors, he
discovered it was all based on incorrect tax codes. The Tax people had confused
information due to three sources of income, but couldn't get the matter right
with all the expensive expertise they claim they have. A spokesperson said they
were looking into it as a matter of urgency? --- not a lot of hope there eh?

' THE CASE OF THE INLAND
REVENUE OFFICER WHO LIED '

AN Unidentified civil
servant at the Inland revenue seemed unconcerned that a lie interfered with a
claimant's valid request. He actually said the info was on the pc
regarding a claim for Income Support, whereas the claimant had never claimed
income support at any time. His bungle and false statement quashed the
claim and it was only after trouble and delay to the claimant that it was
finally put right.

They were requested to
reveal the civil servant, but denied this and said there was a clerical error??

HMRC GO AFTER INNOCENT
PEOPLE AND THREATEN THEM --- Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs staff are
continually getting away with the crime of threats and harassment and they get
away with it without any fear of prosecution, and why is that? they have
immunity provided by the police and Crown, they cannot be touched. They are
above the law. The new report says they threaten to take possessions over tax
demands to those who already agreed to pay off bills, and they do it to people
who owe nothing. Any errors they make are not errors? simply just something that
happened -- just like one un-named civil servant who wrongly assessed some
claimant even though he had other information to the contrary, had their claim
denied and was not held accountable when the mistake showed up. The HMRC would
not investigate him, suspend him or hold an inquiry into his behaviour because
he was protected. The report highlighted the fact that these threats flouted
the Office of fair trading rules -- guidance to debt collectors --- yet
amazingly the HMRC is not bound by the rules because it is a government
department? This situation revealed itself when Mrs Perry was hounded by the
HMRC debt office in Glasgow and then by another debt office in Croydon. The
Office of Fair Trading was contacted and that's when it was revealed that they
were above the law and could not be investigated by the Ombudsman or Office of
Fair Trade, even the police are tied when attempting to investigate, they are
immune from prosecution.

TAXMAN FAILS TO WIN CASE
AGAINST MAN WHO WINS APPEAL -- Tax Inspector Hayden Hart thought he would nab
his man easily, and said he was attacked by him whilst doing his duty. Initially
in a lower court the taxman got his way, but Paul Clarke took his case to the
Appeal court and the judge overturned the decision saying the facts were
exaggerated, and it could not be proved by just a few marks that Clarke did it.
Lawyers for the taxman tried to change the charge, but the judge would not let
them.

'Tax Revenue Officer is
Jailed for Fraud'

In Court, CHANDRAKANT
PATEL of Harrow was jailed for inventing false repayments to the tune of 76,000
pounds from his Edgware Office in London. Civil servant Patel pleaded
guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the HMRC while being a trusted
employee who let down the taxpayers. He was sentenced by Judge Hardy at
the Crown Court to three years in jail. It was said in court that he had
two co-conspirators in the fraud and intent to rob the tax system. (May 3
2001)

IN RELATION TO HMRC
THREATS one MP said ' The tone of these demands were deeply offensive and
threatening ' ' In some cases they are sent to the wrong people saying they will
seize possessions and take property if the bill isn't paid' The MP said this
was disgraceful. especially as it was a public body paid for by taxpayers.

' HMRC Tax Officer is Jailed
'

SENIOR TAX OFFICER
MARGARET SCARGILL was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of taking more than
£10,000 in false tax payments. It was discovered that she had perpetrated
the crime over five years under the noses of colleagues at the Dewsbury HMRC
Office. She opened two accounts in order to place the stolen money. It was
amazing to learn that she had acquired a senior position during those years, and
all the while fiddled and falsified documents. It was said she altered
correct details on existing records or created false employment pay and tax
returns which ensured repayments for three women. It was also found she
had made false repayments; just over 10,000, which had been sent to two of her
sisters, one a Police Officer, and a niece. She was found guilty of
cheating the HMRC and jailed for six
months. (7/2/2005)

' The Taxman in blunder
refuse to accept the facts '

THE INLAND REVENUE in
Preston do make mistakes, do enter false information, deny it and carry onto the
next occasion -- Miss Tonie Francis was dead according to their records, another
gaff, but when she actually phoned to correct this, the operator said she could
not enter into any dialogue because she was dead? The mother of two from
Northamptonshire had her benefits frozen because of it as they had classified
her as ' deceased ' even an officer from a department said he could not enter
into any conversation? Amazingly, the civil servant on the phone actually
asked the deceased!! for a copy of her will and details of next of kin. She has
since consulted with a solicitor and intends to sue the tax authorities who
claimed this was a 'computer error '

THE INLAND REVENUE
THREATEN WIDOW --- Indeed, A case has come to light that clearly shows the HMRC
have shown their true colours again. A 95 year old widow was threatened with
bailiffs over a bill that was actually wrong and their mistake. This comes at a
time when a Commons Committee hauled them in over the chaos and complaints by
the public. Widow Beryl Frew was told in a letter she would have her
possessions seized for non payment. It was only after outside forces went over
their bills that it was found that she had actually paid £380 more, and that was
what they owed her. This example clearly shows how insensitive these people are
and that they are quite unconcerned about using their power to crush anyone,
even when they get it wrong.

' VAT Taxman Jailed '

RICHARD THORNTON, a VAT
Inspector with the HMRC was sent to prison for two and a half years for
swindling taxpayers out of £32,000 at Mold Crown Court. It was heard that
the tax Inspector set up a fake company with fictional directors to help him
make a bogus sale and claim back on VAT. He was convicted of fraudulent
evasion.

IT HAS BEEN REVEALED THAT
MISTAKES ARE NOT ALWAYS MISTAKES as claimed by the tax departments of the UK
Government. An internal document showed that Officers often deliberately
try to trap and cheat claimants in order to reduce any tax benefits or rebate.
It showed the staff had a system geared up to performance targets within
offices. Often they knew that a wrong demand had gone out, but ignored
this in case 'the fishing trip' netted results. One trick was to get
people to rewrite claims and compare them word for word, and if it didn't do
that, they then had another worker lean on that taxpayer with more requests for
information in the full knowledge that they were running a subtle intimidation
that the claimant could do nothing about.

' Dishonest Tax fraud Officer
on the fiddle '

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AT
THE REVENUE AND CUSTOMS PROSECUTION OFFICE DAVID PARTRIDGE, found himself being
prosecuted instead. He was found guilty of gross misconduct and dismissed for
awarding his wife a lucrative contract said to be around £100,000 of taxpayers
money. He was found guilty acting dishonestly over a period of eighteen
months.

TAX OFFICE COVER-UP OVER
BOTCHED ASSESSMENT FORM -- Why the tax office lie, cheat and deceive is a
mystery, but they do; even over the little things. The North Country
Inland Revenue Tax Dept made what they call an 'error' yet kept the identity of
the civil servant a secret and would not have him identified when requested by
the taxpayer/claimant. The claimant had given in forms that showed the
exact circumstances, yet, the civil servant wrongly filled in another knowing
that he'd received other paperwork that could not be right and its status
wrongly listed. But this officer continued with the incorrect assessment
which affected the claimant badly and delayed him, thus causing stress and
further trouble.

HMRC TAX DEPARTMENT
THREATENS LEGAL ACTION in letter to 69yr old Widow in regard to bill that was
incorrectly assigned to her when they knew it was the responsibility of a former
employer. Yet they demanded that she paid £217 a month to clear the £2,607 bill
of which she was first told to pay within one month. The pensioner already
lived on a strict budget and found coping very difficult. A watchdog
contacted the office, and in seconds the mistake was seen; but only because
someone in the newspapers intervened. It is quite clear that they would have
hounded her and taken the money --- and never looked to see if it was correct,
accusations levelled at the tax staff of bullying and threats is well founded,
and someone likened them to back street money-lenders who put the frighteners on
debtors --- this describes the Inland Revenue exactly.

FORMER HMRC EMPLOYEE
DODGED TAX -- Well versed in the ways of the tax system, JONATHAN HILTON decided
not to declare a second job even while working as an official in the Inland
Revenue during 2002. In court it was said that he evaded tax over a 14
year period. This all came to light during an internal investigation at
the HMRC. He appeared at Manchester Crown Court and was sentenced to
fourteen months suspended for twelve months.

CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST
HMRC PERSONNEL ARE FLAWED -- Investigations are carried out by the Police
Complaints, and as we already know they are notoriously a whitewash in the case
of suspected police wrongdoing, so it doesn't carry much weight when one
considers they handle criminal charges against tax staff at the Inland Revenue
Departments. Our Investigator Richard asked them for details of how many tax
people they were currently investigating, how many had been to court and how
many had been jailed as a consequence of criminal acts, but they refused to give
any information.

TAX INSPECTOR AND TWO
STAFF RESIGN over harassment charges by pensioner. A leaked internal memo from
one department to another says that 'there is no reason to take the matter of
harassment claims against the dept any further as resignations have been
accepted and the pensioner has received a full apology for the distress.'
We have learnt since that the tax premises in Bristol have closed and staff
moved to other areas??

HMRC face angry Treasury
Select Committee over only 40 telephone calls in every 100 are answered by the
tax office staff, whereas their published target said only four calls in every
hundred can be allowed, which shows what this department is up to. HMRC Chief
Executive Dame Leslie Strathie did not seem all that bothered about the
horrendous record and glibly said ' Let me accept that as a challenge? ' A
thirty minute call held at their office can cost a staggering £12.30 to the
worried caller, one pensioner spent £54.12 as he waited two hours on the line.
HMRC Managers are to be hauled in over the chaos the dept is causing to the
taxpayers.

PAUL FOOT REVEALS LOCAL
TAX OFFICE DILEMMA -- Back in the 80's the Investigative Journalist revealed
that tax blunders were rife due to the hire of students in many offices, hired
to fill the gaps needed of staff away or just not able to cope with workloads.
But this led to wrongly assessed people and more outrageously the purge on
innocents that became like a game to many of the civil servants that had a free
hand to choose what they liked. No proper checks were being made of their work
when in fact, they were not properly trained and many could not understand what
the system was about anyway. One senior tax officer admitted it was going on,
but he did not have the time or resources to put all of it right, ' some things
just had to be pushed through right or wrong, and you just hoped the outcome
would not seriously get anyone into trouble.' he said.

' Tax Office Cover-Up over
Vodafone Interest Mystery '

The more this department
try to bury the issue of the unpaid interest involving Vodafone, the more the
questions are asked -- without any satisfactory answers?
It became such an issue that the Commons Treasury Select Committee called in top
civil servant, Dave Hartnett who by some strange moves -- became a top
official at H.M. Revenue and Customs. Time and time again Tory
backbencher Jesse Norman, pressed him about the ' smelly ' deal that had allowed
Vodafone to settle its tax debt which had been overdue and incurring interest,
but Hartnett become more unconvincing as he threw in ' Government errors' as a
cover-up, and we've heard about these 'errors' that civil servants cling to as a
way out to get the public off their backs? As to the matter of
the unpaid interest? well according to law it is a criminal offence not to pay
interest on tax owing....but the HMRC is above the law and makes its own rules
as we have shown....they have Crown Immunity!!

' Rogue Tax Inspector becomes
Whistleblower on HMRC '

PETER CLARE, a former Tax
Fraud Investigator with the HMRC for 22 years has appeared on the web offering
two CD's of interviews in which he claims to expose the secret and nasty tricks
that the civil service staff use on the public in their game of cat and mouse --
which they perversely enjoy! He cites disgruntled employees who could and
did fit up people and fabricate evidence against them.

' USELESS INCOMPETENT HMRC
' --- Mr K. Bland of Isleworth reminds us yet again of the overall
incompetence of the Tax civil servants throughout the UK. He tells us of a
demand sent to a client of his telling him to pay a penalty of £100 for
non-completion of a tax return. It wouldn't be so bad if this could be
considered a fair mistake? but it wasn't, the man had died two and a half years
earlier!! and what makes matters worse, some idiot member of staff
addressed it to ' Mr. P. Warbrick Deceased ' Mr Bland and many others
wonder what kind of civil servants are they recruiting and the obvious answer is
-- not up to the job and clearly incompetent.

' Tax Inspector is suspended
and Arrested '

PRIDE OF THE HMRC MICHAEL
ALLCOCK found himself suspended and then arrested when bosses turned against
him. Amid rumours of bribery, that never went away, the seemingly successful tax
investigator was being accused of 'improper collusion with the Serious Fraud
Office ' He was told there was a possibility of charges being brought
against him under the 1906 Corruption Act. -- Unfortunately we cannot report any
more of this peculiar case because it suddenly went underground and silence
followed???

TAX INSPECTOR MICHAEL
ALLCOCK FACED THIRTEEN CHARGES OF CORRUPTION.

Research has revealed that
Michael Allcock used bullying in his techniques, and was not a pleasant man?
so I guess many ordinary citizens hope that he was prosecuted or even jailed. (
he was jailed see later article)

'Tax Officer in Theft and
Burglary '

TAX OFFICER STEVEN SMITH
of the Kingswinford area was found guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court of theft
and burglary --- he stole a key to the property of a woman and took £25
from her purse --- he was given a community order and court costs of £750,
plus an oreder to pay back the money he stole.

CALLOUS ACTS BY HMRC --
Mrs. Brenda Williams tells us a woeful tale of civil servant aggressive
behaviour, when she wrote to query a demand sent to her which turned out to be
completely wrong and based on the wrong tax assessment and numbers. She
was told by a member of staff ' We don't really care what you think of us, if we
say you must pay this then you will or we shall take your house and anything
else, we have the power to do so ' After several other attempts and on
receiving a notice that a debt agency was now handling the claim she approached
a watchdog in her local area for help. It was just a matter of days and
they found that the tax office had made error after error. The ombudsman was
sent copies of letters and the HMRC backed off and claimed that somehow she had
been given the wrong data. They never apologised for this harassment and
got away with it -- no civil servant was brought up on charges nor identified.

' Tax Officer Accused of
Theft '

HMRC's JOHN MEAKIN faced
theft charges brought by a member of the public and claimant. It is said
that The Tax Credit Claimant Compliance Officer abused his position and withheld
documents in order to disable a valid claim and cause maximum distress. Of
these charges of wilful misconduct, the HMRC said they were looking into the
matter and needed time to respond? Beyond that, they wouldn't comment!
See 'Tax Inspector and two staff resign), as with Meakin, this again was the
Bristol HMRC.

HMRC TAX BLUNDERS TO BE
WRITTEN OFF --- A report has shown that billions of pounds are to be written off
involving unpaid bills that go back several years. They claim it is a
result of the PAYE system going back to 2004. The HMRC are to send out letters
to those who overpaid in 2003 to 2004, those who owe will be required to pay
£600 each on an average. It says the HMRC has been in a shocking mess for a
number of years, but they deny this and do not accept the criticism?
Yes, that is them and business as usual.

' Tax Boss denies Lying '

In the GOLDMAN incident,
HMRC boss, Dave Hartnett denied telling lies at a Parliamentary Committee when
he was repeatedly accused of lying over a settlement with the U.S. bank Goldman
Sachs, which cost the taxpayer almost £8 million. He claimed he had not overseen
HMRC's dealings with Goldman. But a leaked confidential document shows that
Hartnett had been involved in settling a dispute over taxes with Goldman Sachs.
He later admitted to assisting colleagues to deal with the difficult issue??

THE TAX BOSS HAS BEEN
OPENLY ACCUSED OF COSYING UP TO CORPORATE TAX AVOIDERS WHILE PENALISING ORDINARY
TAXPAYERS.

' Swindling Tax Officer in
elaborate fraud '

HMRC TAX OFFICER ELIZABETH
GIBSON deceived colleagues and others making claims totalling £58,042 using dead
people's identities and non-existent relatives. To support the fraud she
acted as agent in respect of the claims and deposited cash into her own bank
account. It is claimed by the HMRC that they were unaware of this? -- but
seven years is hard to swallow despite this feeble claim by the tax authorities.

' H M R C hide errors to stop
taxpayer appeals '

Evidence has been revealed
that indicates that HMRC is suppressing and concealing mistakes and information
from the taxpayers. An internal memo leaked events surrounding secret decision
making when dealing with appeals, and shows they are denying leniency in matters
of unpaid income tax. It shows that the tax officers chose to conceal the
details and went on to demand thousands of pounds despite being able to approach
claims fairly. The discovery of HMRC refusing to accept official
employers' forms in appeals cases is widespread in different districts. It
showed that many claimants would not get a fair hearing at their appeals.
The memo shows the true arrogance and incompetence at the HMRC. Experts
say the revelations cast grave doubt on the decisions made against more than
100,000 taxpayer's appeals which have been rejected this year alone.

' Tax Officer's Fraud and Double-Dealing '

Assistant Tax Commissioner NICK PETROLOUS was
accused of dishonestly benefiting from rulings he gave as 'gamekeeper and
Poacher ' in his intentions to deceive and play both sides. He is said to
have received profits from a company to which he ' looked after favourably '.
In court it was heard that he used his position as Senior Tax Officer to obtain
information on tax schemes that exploited ' loopholes' -- he then passed
on that information to former associate Richard Morgan who turned it to both
their advantages financially.

' Mastermind Taxman behind £4million Scam '

SENIOR REVENUES OFFICER BRENDAN MURPHY of the
HMRC appeared before a special sitting of the Circuit Court at Ennis. The
Criminal Assets Bureau's Detective Inspector told the court that he did not
believe the story Mr.Murphy gave in evidence and that he masterminded the
£4million VAT fraud. Mr. Murphy pleaded guilty to conspiracy with others
to defraud the Revenue Commissioners.

THREATS BY HMRC ARE OUTRAGEOUS SAY TREASURY
COMMITTEE --Deputy Chairman of The Treasury Committee, Labour MP George Mudie
said ' I think it's disgraceful to treat elderly people and taxpayers in this
manner and it offers no respect or concern for the people who pay their wages.'
The Treasury Committee have urged Ministers to make 'Menacing Letters' sent out
by the Tax Office illegal in the light of new threatening demands being sent out
by the HMRC. Ministers have been asked to urgently consider drafting new
regulations to curb the abuse of power the Inland Revenue have at the present
time.

TAX OFFICER IN COMPLICITY TO WITHHOLD BENEFITS
is now known, PAUL GERRARD has been named in a case as we cover the issue
of penalties the HMRC can inflict at their own discretion on people who 'they
believe have cheated the system let alone made a mistake' --- yet by the same
token if they make the mistake on the taxpayer they pay nothing, no compensation
and nor can they be penalised. But we are here to remedy that by naming
them and we have our first -- Paul Gerrard a taxman in Preston, who is
using bullying tactics and more. The case concerns a struggling bookseller in
Hampshire whose receipts don't buy the bacon and a little support from tax
credits keeps the wolf from the door. In collusion with John Meakin who
arbitrarily axed the credits, he too on the 17th of October acted immediately to
close the claim, yet the pair were from two different offices, Meakin at Bristol
and Gerrard at Preston, yet they both acted swiftly to end the credits, but
Gerrard was prepared to do more. The claimant never received any notice, and
Meakin stole his documents. On the 3rd Nov he discovered when ringing Bristol on
the letter from Meakin asking for documents, that they'd upped and went leaving
a recorded message saying contact Birmingham. The claimant contacted Birmingham
and was told his claim had been terminated. Mr Somal told him to appeal and send
the appeal immediately. On the 9th Nov, the claimant had to attend an
interrogation at Cosham over ID caused by Preston!! He was successful. On
the 10th his appeal had succeeded and was confirmed by Mr.Somal in Birmingham.
However, still by the 15th things were not right and Mr.Somal could not
understand the delay, Preston were ignoring the decision. On the 17th Nov
two days later and 7 days since the appeal decision, he wrote and said the claim
was being shut down, and on the 21st he confirms that it is his final
decision despite being overturned at the appeal. In revenge or an act of
vendetta he tells Glasgow to turn the screw and go after the claimant and they
issue an overpayment demand. The claimant sent a complaint to Preston on the
13th mentioning the appeal, but they do not reply until the 21st - the same day
as Gerrard acts against the claimant, which is more than a coincidence.
The Complaints write to say they will sit out things until the 9th of December,
taking nearly a month? yet when Gerrard and Meakin acted together it was done
within a day...what does that tell you? Corruption, nothing less and
collusion.

DATA BREACH BY HMRC is down to PAUL GERRARD we
can reveal. It appears in a report that 50,000 people suffered as a result of
his incompetence and staff at Preston. Gerrard is the Director of Tax
Credits in Preston and Deputy Head of Enforcement no less, and we can also say
that it is Gerrard who pushed for compliance investigations in all departments
of tax at a meeting with bosses. It appears after waiting several
days to see if things would conveniently blow over, that he had to apologise for
the Data Breach which resulted in thousands of people being compromised in
having their personal details read by others. Getting details on his personal
life is well guarded as we tried to unearth some background on him only just to
get as far as his relatives (Denise, Anthony and Winifred). The strange thing
here is that he was not called on to resign, yet another officer did, Paul Gray,
who caused the data breach allowing details of 25million Child Benefit claimants
to go missing on two unsecured disks. Legal wise -- The law says it is an
offence to breach the data protection act -- The Information Commissioner's
Office was recently granted powers to fine firms and bodies £500,000 for serious
or negligent breaches of the Data Protection Act, but no action was taken
against Gerrard, so we can take it that he has pals in the Government prepared
to get rid of any occurrences and have him remain immune from prosecution??

We are staying on Paul Gerrard as there is
something else not right about this tax officer, and we are following up a lead
that has some nasty background to it. At the very least this man is guilty of
misconduct and should be dismissed by a Disciplinary Tribunal.

A Report to Parliament revealed that 116 HMRC
staff have been sacked for 'undisclosed reasons? ' among a total of 369 who have
been disciplined. However it goes onto reveal a more true picture when it
says 294 members of staff were sacked in relation to performance issues?
Tory MP Priti Patel asked how many staff were sacked for errors? The
Department replied -- 'It does not record 'error' as a reason for dismissal? As
one can see by this report, it doesn't actually reveal anything other than the
tax office maintain their secrecy and will not be transparent about anything.
It's interesting to note that they led with a claim of 100 instead of the true figure
369.

' Inland Revenue telling 'Official' lies over
figures '

We can now say categorically that the HMRC lie
when publishing or divulging figures on sackings like the above. A former
employee who left because they didn't like the way some senior staff dealt with
people told us that these official figures were massaged to look less than what
they are. He said some people are urged to leave very strongly and when they do,
they are not in the official figures. ' You are taken to one side if you
disagree with the aims or work ethics of the Department and you are in no way
allowed to comment or say anything against a fellow employee. They are very
tight knit and it gets around if you have said the wrong thing or are outspoken.
Head of operations or a manager will suggest this is not the job for you and
before you know it they are putting pressure on you to leave before they push
you out or take a 'sanction' -- this literally means doing a report on you that
is not favourable and adding opinions and making references to your
unsuitability, and if that doesn't work they make something up that makes
working there nearly impossible. One chap I knew worked to the letter of
the department protocol but strayed when he offended a senior member of the
Investigative Branch by likening him to Hitler as a joke. But in a matter of
weeks he was out, the guy in question with colleagues had embarked on making his
life a misery, and after a while he just said he'd had enough and left. the
others claimed that he would have been sacked, but I doubt that because he was a
pleasant sort; not like many others, who actually cared about the public.

' Former taxman is jailed for fraud '

HMRC Employee ERROL MARK was jailed for four
years after defrauding his bosses the Inland Revenue out of £185,000. The former
tax officer arranged false tax repayments over a period of four years before
being caught out. he created fictitious records to generate repayments on
tax actually never paid, and covered his tracks by using false passwords and
created identities. it was said in court that his scheme was hard to
detect and his skill to deceive had been remarkable in that it lasted four
years.

TAXMAN DELIBERATELY DELAYS CLAIM -- We have
come across a case where the Preston Office of the HMRC have deliberately gone
out of their way to delay a process on a claim. We can confirm that they knew
about an order to reinstate a claim issued from Birmingham after a successful
appeal by the claimant. An officer told us that he was amazed to find that the
claim had not been rectified by Preston as he'd already issued a notice on the
computer, which they would have seen, but did nothing about it. We have learned
that the order had been put out the same day of the appeal and the staff in
Preston would have had it several days. no other conclusion can be arrived at
other than a deliberate attempt to interfere with the claim. We also have
confirmation that the Birmingham Tax Office deliberately do not answer back on
telephone calls, and one case in particular said they left a message every day
for more than a week and no one bothered to get back to them?

' HMRC break Data Protection Laws '

THOUSANDS OF TAX CREDIT DETAILS WERE SENT OUT
TO THE WRONG PEOPLE -- The HMRC said they were sent out ' Accidentally' but we
can tell you they do not 'accidentally' do anything, quite the contrary in fact.
A Spokesperson used that tired phrase -- 'error' to describe the appalling Data
Protection Breach, which is for mere mortals against the law, but not for the
HMRC of course as they are above it. A Greater Manchester recipient got
her neighbour's details of earnings, bank account records and more -- which
could have been used in ID theft, a charge they level at many taxpayers!!
Several thousand people received other taxpayers personal and private details
because of the HMRC -- and we are told that all of this originated in the
Preston Tax Offices.

SEE THE PAUL GERRARD ARTICLE ABOVE and why he
was not ordered to resign?

TAX AUTHORITIES CONCEAL MISTAKES ---
Workers at several tax districts throughout the UK, London, Newcastle, Preston,
Bristol and Birmingham have had their lies exposed in a 'leaked Memo' sent to
the Mail Newspaper. It showed that 1241,000 people had applied for the A19
concession, and as many as 5.7million people had paid the wrong tax. It
showed that when the taxmen realised they'd made mistakes they levied these on
the taxpayer. It also revealed that they fail to act on information
requested and sent by claimants, or simply ignore it, thus causing stress and
great problems for the individual. The HMRC make the hollow claim of
'sorting things out quickly ', but we have evidence that this is a complete
fabrication of the truth.

On one rejected appeal -- it said Mr. Williams
had queried his bill as he knew it was incorrect. However, the HMRC mistakenly
in posting a reply - enclosed an internal memo not meant for him nor to be seen
by him -- from a technical advisor to a tax officer telling him a very different
story. revealing the deceit by HMRC managers.

' Insider Dealing Taxman is jailed '

BIRMINGHAM TAX INSPECTOR LAWRENCE CHAMPION of
Harborne Park Road, Harborne was discovered to have abused and used his position
as assistant technical administrator in the Capital Gains and Clearance Section
at the Inland Revenue Office
to make a profit of £15,000 with insider dealing. He pleaded guilty to 13 counts
of Insider dealing in court. Being able to access all the information
needed, he confessed to using confidential data regarding company take-overs
received at the Solihull Office which enabled him to buy the shares at a low
price. 50 year old Champion was suspended without pay once the trading was
exposed. The money was said to have
supported his children's school fees. He worked at the Solihull Tax Office. He
was sent to Prison for six months. (May 7. 2000)

HMRC SUSPECTED OF CORRUPTION OVER CORPORATE
DEALS -- The National Audit Office is to go up against the might of the Inland
Revenue to investigate the 'cosy deals' with Vodafone and Goldman Sachs. It says
outsiders will be brought in to scrutinize goings on at the HMRC, as they
revealed they need tax experts to uncover impropriety and underhand deals struck
behind closed doors.

' Former Tax Inspector 'Untruthful ' about assets
'

A HIGH COURT JUDGE WARNED TAXMAN MR SHAY DALY
that he could face jail if he did not disclose the full extent of his assets to
the court within two weeks. The Judge said that his answers and disclosure
presented was 'untruthful' in the case of ACC Bank and Inland Revenue seeking to
get back £4.5million.

UK REVENUE AND CUSTOMS ASSIST FRAUD
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUPER RICH -- Martin Deighton in a letter explained how the
HMRC were making it easy for the yacht owning rich to grab half of their tax
money back in ' reclaimed expenses called business amenities set up as tax
losses. The Tax collected is around £160 billion, but £80billion is paid
back. He mentions ' Carousel Fraud' which enables 'criminal elements' to
illegitimately reclaim around £200 billion in VAT, all negotiated and done with
ease and expertise. he says the cost of administering the reclaimed tax and
paying it back is staggering and not something they are willing to discuss.

£75,000 FRAUD BY HMRC OFFICER -- LEIGH HAY is
to stand trial for fiddling the Inland Revenue out of £75,000. The Tax
Credits Team Leader who worked at the Dundee HMRC is accused of committing
fraud. It is said she engaged in forgery on two claims. Her trial at
the time of this notice was still ongoing, she is to appear at The Sheriff's
Court in Dundee. (2017)

THE HMRC COMPLAINTS THAT ISN'T --- The
farcical nature of the HMRC is to put up a Government website that tells you how
to complain, but not exactly where? it can and does tell you to leave the matter
in the hands of the department you wish to complain about? which is like letting
the enemy decide your fate. Anyone can see at first glance that this is not
suitable at all and is a scandal. It mentions getting small payments if the the
tax office caused you worry, handled your complaint badly, or took too long --
but try and get this? and in more cases than not you will be told they don't pay
costs or compensation by many staff. They and this goes for most of them, do not
even know what the rules are or the pages on the HMRC.Gov site. They also have
contact us, but not by e-mail, one click on that meets a dead end, and a flimsy
explanation saying how much they'd like to be able to deal with e-mails!!
---Government Joke -- and in pretty bad taste. All in all, the complaints
procedures are not worth a bean and anyone going on the site are wasting their
time.

HMRC WORKER IN FALSE CLAIMS CASE -- HMRC
Helpline Officer SUZANNE WILSON admitted to a fraud involving around £30,000.
It was said in court that she involved her 60yr old mother, encouraging her to
fabricate letters and produce false accounting documents in claims for
childcare. The Newcastle Crown Court Judge gave Wilson a 12 month
suspended sentence, and ordered her to carry out 240 hours of Community Service.
(2012)

£100 MILLION POUNDS SPENT ON STAFF TRAINING IS
A WASTE SAY WATCHDOG ON HMRC SPENDING -- The latest report condemns the huge
spending bill of £100million on one year training courses for staff. The
National Audit Office said these courses for the 2010/2011 period had revealed a
poor benefit in terms of money spent. It was hard to conjure up 38percent of
staff who claimed they'd learnt something. One in five said they didn't really
like working at HMRC and wanted to leave? The Audit Office said the scheme
lacked strategy hence the poor figures and waste. The tax organisation had
taken on 730,000 courses and spent on average £1,419 on each member of staff in
order to improve the system. It would be fair to say this was a failure as staff
we have featured here do not possess any skills in handling taxpayers properly
and with decency Mr.Gerrard!!

'HMRC Tax Officer is Jailed for 18 months'

TRACEY OAKLEY worked at the HMRC Office in St
Austell, Cornwall. It was said in court she swindled the Inland Revenue
out of £93,000 in tax credits, despite knowing she had falsified her own claim
entering her status as single when she was not. She entered a plea of
guilty at the Truro Crown Court. (2013)

INLAND REVENUE AND MONEY-LAUNDERING CONNECTION
--- Concerns are growing over how the HMRC are actively helping crime bosses and
syndicates, prostitution rings and other illegal operations to launder millions
of pounds every year. Andrew Alderson in his article of 7th Dec 2011
points out criminals are using the HMRC to set up and take over illegal
companies, bogus claims and predictions of company profits so that they can
offload ' dirty money' from crime and then wait for a rebate - refund from
overpaid tax -- which turns crime cash into clean currency!!

DIRTY LITTLE 'FISHING TRIPS' BY HMRC --
Devious, underhand, corrupt, yes, possibly all three -- yes, it's the HMRC
Business Records Check -- When Inspectors randomly and otherwise pick out names
for their ' inquisition practices' -- they merely just mail a businessman,
company or individual and tell them they wish to call on them. One
accountant says - ' These checks are not for the client's benefit at all, it's
just an excuse for a fishing trip expedition in the hope they get a reason to
claim extra tax -- and as a warning he said -- 'every answer can be twisted and
perverted (just like the inspectors themselves) so say very little and reply
cautiously '

' Suspended sentence for Former Tax Inspector '

TAX INSPECTOR RICHARD GRIFFITHS from Bridgend
was sentenced to a 10 month suspended prison sentence after he pleaded guilty in
court. He was convicted of running an illegal money-lending operation that had
54 customers. It is said that he set up the loan company so that he could spy on
women. It was stated that he chose single women and women who were in a
dire financial position, some of whom were on benefit. It was revealed
that he had no licence as a money-lender or loan company. And they
discovered after raiding his home that he had benefitted to the tune of £12,370
in the unlawful enterprise. The report said that he refused to co-operate with police over
identifying his victims --- he also was said to have targeted the most
vulnerable people in society. (23/2/2010) Cardiff Crown Court.

TAX OFFICE AT PRESTON SUPPRESSES INFO ON
REDUCTION OF PUBLIC SERVICES -- Preston Tax Office came in for criticism by the
Union PCS over its high handed tactics in reducing opening hours to the public,
which would seriously hinder the tax payer. The union said that the HMRC did not
consider anyone else in its move to force people to go online whether they liked
it or not. They did liaise with the union on the matter, and that this was
typical 'running roughshod' over anyone else.

HMRC WRITE OFF £27BILLION BUT ONLY FOR THE
CORPORATIONS -- The Inland Revenue could not prevent a report showing them
having to write off 27.4 billion pounds in five years to corporations and those
who could afford to challenge them. Ordinary taxpayers were treated entirely
differently and of course ended up footing most of the revenue the tax man
wanted. Letting off the big firms is not new in tax circles, the denials
from them have always been seen as lies and mistruths. Getting any
information about the Inland Revenue is difficult and often blocked by the
powers that be.

IN 2008 THE TAXMAN IDENTIFIED 57 BARRISTERS AS
FAILING TO NOTIFY THE INLAND REVENUE in regard to unpaid tax -- As yet, this has
not led to any prosecutions?

'HMRC Officer in £1.2 million PAYE Fraud'

Working as an 'Insider' for 14 other people,
Tax Administration Officer MICHAEL KITCHEN made 158 transactions for defrauding
the tax system while he was on allocating PAYE accounts it was said in court.
It was said in court that he diverted £1.2 million in the enterprise using a
very sophisticated fraud system. He was jailed with his fellow
conspirators when he was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court.

FORMER TAXMAN WARNS HMRC AGAINST THE SUSPICION
OF CORRUPTION -- Claude Currey of Portishead, Somerset, a taxman for 42 years
both at the Customs and Excise and re-developed Revenue and Customs HMRC, warns
the staff and Inspectors about perks and hospitality new taxmen take up raising
the suspicion of corruption. He tells how it was thought risky accepting a cup
of tea or coffee at most and that management stressed they were never to accept
hospitality in case it was seen as accepting bribes. He says today's standards
have slipped in the HMRC which is very sad by those in the organisation ready to
accept big bonuses and hospitality packages so readily.

LIES AND MORE DAMN LIES AT HMRC - It appears
they tell all investigators to say the same thing in parrot fashion, -- 'We want
the money to go to the right people who need the help' --- so this validates
their extreme campaigns to pick on anyone, because who is going to check to see
if that's what they are doing? good question, but you will not get an answer
that satisfies. Recent news tells us that two out of three big firms win
over VAT payments, and the taxman has been accused of serving up fines in order
to confuse while penalties relating to tax disputes have been overturned on
mass. The report says that thousands of taxpayers have been unjustly
penalised and where not equipped to challenge the HMRC decisions while big
business had a field day getting cash back. 25,633 tax decisions were
found to be incorrect. Their arrogance even stretches to them saying that even
if a decision 'appears' wrong it doesn't mean that the figure was wrongly
levied?

' HMRC Taxman fiddles on benefits '

TAXMAN DANIEL BELL of West Lothian, an HMRC
Tax officer was found guilty of a £6,000 fraud. In court he pleaded guilty
to falsely claiming £3,413 in benefits during 2007 to 2010, and falsely claiming
travel expenses amounting to £2,907 in 2009.

THE HMRC IN 2008 ADMIT TO HAVING DISMISSED 610
MEMBERS OF STAFF from various tax departments over a three year period and 192
members of staff disciplined in 2007 to 2008. This report was followed by
insider claims that the figures were massaged in order to lessen the impact.

HMRC TOLD TO PAY COMPENSATION OF £100,000 --
Judy Clements of the Adjudicator's Office stated that complaints have risen
sharply in just one year over the way the HMRC sought repayments even though
they'd already been paid. She accused them of targeting pensioners and
vulnerable groups of people having to pay unexpected tax bills, which they
didn't understand. She said most of the complaints came over the way they are
dealing with tax credits and as a result of failures by tax staff who fail to
act on information it had been supplied.

THE HMRC AND THE CARELESS MISTAKES LEAD TO
SUSPENSION OF A PENALTY -- Phil Benwick a Director of Tax investigation admitted
in a case that the tone of the correspondence sent by the HMRC was not
appropriate for an unrepresented taxpayer according to the guidelines because
there was no dialogue about the error and what category it fell in. he accepted
it was a mistake on behalf of the department.

'Former HMRC Taxman in £190,000 Fraud '

TAXMAN CRAIG GORDON went on trial in Edinburgh
for defrauding his bosses of £190,000. It was stated that he committed the
offence while being employed at the HMRC Lothian 2 Area in Broomfield Drive, and
formed a fraudulent scheme to obtain money. It was said he set up a
business called Capital Tax Services, opened a bank account under a false name
and created false income tax repayment claims, and then as a tax officer,
processed them for repayment. Interestingly, he has claimed that other people
did it in his defence! (FEB 2008)

HMRC INVOLVED IN MAKING NUISANCE CALLS ---
Nuisance telephone calls are an offence according to the Telecommunications
Watchdog, yet the HMRC have been making around 300,000 of these, and getting
away with it due to their immunity. The menacing silent phone calls were
instigated by their automated dialling systems which chase late payments it is
said, However, Lib Dem MP John Hemming said the practice must end and warned the
HMRC it risked fines of up to £50,000 each one. The Ofcom Regulator said ' It is
quite clear that the taxman is responsible for persistent nuisance calls'
One other MP remarked that the HMRC should be fined £15billion -- the
culmination of 300,000 calls, and that they should appear in a public court
charged and found guilty.

TAX OFFICER IN HMRC COMMITS FRAUD -- EMMA
CHANTLER of Atherton appeared at Manchester Crown Court, where it was said she
claimed around £40,000 to which she was not entitled. Her position with
HMRC was a Contact Centre Manager. She was sentenced to 36 weeks in jail
suspended for a year, and given a 160 hour Community Order. (2014)

SUCCESSFUL CHALLENGES ON HMRC HAVE QUADRUPLED
-- Due to major errors by the HM Revenue and Customs, challenges that overturned
their judgements have soared by four times. 446 complaints handled by the
Adjudicator were upheld in 2009, and in 2008 out of 229 cases -- 108 claims were
successful.

THE HMRC AND THE PHONE LINE SCAM --- The Money
Mail reports of the HMRC phone line that intentionally keeps people on hold for
up to 30 minutes, and then redirects the person to their Internet site before
cutting them off. The Mail also claims that they have revealed cover-ups,
evidence of tax errors and ineptitude such as: Failure to respond to letters and
phone calls --- Giving out incorrect and misleading advice to pensioners
--- Sending out aggressive and threatening demands -- Showing a lack of
consistency in dealing with appeals. It also points out that accountability is
zero, as we said at the beginning of this list --- there is no Cabinet Minister
specifically dealing with the HMRC, and this comes as a stark fact and worry
when you find out that all other departments are responsible to a Minister in
The House Of Commons.

'Two and a half years jail for thieving tax man '

HMRC OVERPAYMENT TAX OFFICER GEOFFREY ELEY
is jailed for stealing. Civil Servant Eley was at the HMRC in the
'Overpayment' benefits section collecting overdue payments from taxpayers.
He appeared before Hereford Crown Court to answer charges of theft, in which it
was said that he visited businesses and door-to-door individuals between 2001
and 2007 taking cash payments from 15 taxpayers, which he then kept for himself.
To keep the scam safe he gave them photocopies of official receipts so that they
would believe that they had actually paid their tax. It was said in court
that he had been with the Inland Revenue for 27 years. (21/6/2010)

' The HMRC Bribes Scandal '

THE JAILING OF MICHAEL ALLCOCK who worked at
the Inland Revenue Special Office No 2 for accepting cash bribes to support a
lavish lifestyle has initiated calls for another corruption investigation into
the HMRC; especially in the light that Allcock was one of their top
investigators. Members of the Commons Public Accounts Committee are being pushed
by another former taxman John Gwyer, to look into matters more closely when they
question Inland Revenue Chairman Montagu about Allcock and the freedom he had to
move around in that allowed bribery to take place.

Note: Allcock is being sued by the HMRC for
the return of £150,000 he took in bribes.

'H.M.R.C. Lose tax evasion case against Rednapp '

THE TAX OFFICE PURSUED HARRY REDNAPP FOR 6
YEARS ACCUSING HIM OF CORRUPTION AND TAX EVASION, the case cost the taxpayer
£8million and was backed by the CPS. In court barristers for the HMRC accused
him of criminal activities and secretly hiding money in off-shore accounts.
Mr.Rednapp told of the sheer pressures inflicted on him by the tax people,
making his life a hell. The spokesman for the Inland Revenue acted unconcerned
and just said they did what was necessary to stem tax offenders. It is time, and
we hope that Mr.Rednapp sues the Inland Revenue for multi thousands for bringing
criminal charges against him. £5.5 million would be a fair price for the HMRC to
pay in this case.

ANOTHER CASE OF VICTIMISATION BY HMRC -- The
VAT Inspectors swooped on Richard Williams of Leeds who has a scaled replica of
a U-Boat. They arrested him as part of a fraud probe. His German type U-Boat was
modelled and converted from a narrow boat to be a floating museum. A Spokesman
-- Mike O'Grady of the HMRC was vague as usual as he pattered out the 'party
line' saying the 64 year old was on their list and investigation into VAT fraud
called Operation Cloudcastle looking into the laundering of criminal profits??
no doubt they think Mr.Williams the 'Mr.Big'. Maybe their probe into his U-Boat
my unearth some nasty German Troops with treasures hidden from the war!!

TAX BOSS DAVID HARTNETT IS REPLACED BY
CIVIL SERVANT OF CHAOTIC BORDER AGENCY FARCE -- The press are quick to point out
the reward for failure is another top job for LIN HOMER who took around a
£1million in salary for the border agency position. Despite scandals
surrounding her last post she has now been made chief executive of the Inland
Revenue.

TAX INSPECTOR ALAN CURTIS appeared as a
whistleblower when he stood before a tribunal explaining why he was unfairly
ruled out over pay. He stated that he had been examining other officers work and
taking details of how they fiddled tax details. He said they unfairly
charged traders too much tax to make it look as if they had successfully solved
cases and in turn, deserved performance related pay bonuses. He said hundreds of
thousands of pounds had been illicitly obtained from unsuspecting businessmen.
He named Mr IAN LOBLEY an Area Manager for local compliance at the Reading
Office and IAN RAWLINSON as being involved in a conspiracy to cover-up in a case
file. He condemned the practice as a 'criminal offence'. He also added
that since 2008 and 2009 he had been on the receiving end of persecution for
raising the matter. He said certain colleagues at the office deliberately
over-taxed businessmen so that they could boost their pay packets. Of course,
the Tribunal went against him saying that he brought the allegations forward
because of a grudge.....but the grudge element was not proved only suggested,
and although they dismissed what he said, there is no reason to believe it was
not true....because as we have seen before, when employees get annoyed, they
often have the courage to tell all....and what he has told has a ring of truth
about it.

Further details in the Curtis v Commissioners
for the HMRC says he was accused of making 'protected disclosures' available to
the taxpayer, sending one man a letter in which he said 'he believed the HMRC
was involved in corrupt practices concerning the assessment of individual
taxpayer's tax liabilities. 'corruption in the HMRC' was how he put it.
Amazingly, the Commissioners decided his letter to the taxpayer was 'very
clearly capable of bringing HMRC into disrepute'....which we very much doubt,
obviously they don't read how much the public distrust them. To our way of
thinking, this was an exercise in gagging, apractise employed by HMRC on
numerous occasions.

TAX OFFICER CREATES FALSE ACCOUNTS IN FRAUD
--- JONATHAN DAVIES, a Revenue Executive Officer at the Wrexham Tax Office, was
jailed for eighteen months after admitting to three counts of conspiracy to
defraud. He created bogus National Insurance Numbers and a network of false
accounts, nominating several friends who would receive the payments. He
falsified all the tax returns and managed the whole fraud methodically it was
said at Mold Crown Court. He was incidentally, promoted just days before his
arrest and said the reason for his crime was that he earned low wages. (he
was a £15,000 a year executive in June 2004)

£2.3MILLION WAS STOLEN BY HMRC STAFF IN 2008
--- An internal memo of findings of fraud inside the Inland Revenue revealed
that a clerk stole £220,000 from taxpayers and a senior member of staff
fabricated her expenses claim to obtain £100,000 by deception. Nine people were
convicted of serious criminal offences and others disciplined were allowed to
resign. A total of over two million pounds were lost to those inside the tax
office during a twelve month period. A report in the following year said that
fiddling in the HMRC had actually increased and the figure of £3.6million was
put forward.

'HMRC Employee in Tax Credits Fraud'

TAX EMPLOYEE BOLANTE SHOTE appeared before
Basildon Crown Court, charged with falsely obtaining tax credits to the value of
£86,000 according to HMRC paperwork (and assessments?)....often greatly
exaggerated. Shote pleaded guilty to ten offences of dishonesty, and
resigned from the HMRC in November 2013...she was jailed for 8 months.
(Jan 2015)

TAX INSPECTORS SNOOPED ON 25 MILLION --Branded
as Intrusive --They logged in details of anything and everything that could be
either misconstrued or vaguely taxable that added value to properties including
sideline activities, even charity work, in order to get more tax revenue.
This intrusive information was gathered secretly and ordered by HMRC bosses.
Minister Eric Pickles said he was appalled by the extent of the intrusion into
privacy by tax inspectors. He promised to reign in their right to enter and
access properties on a mere whim or suspicion.

TAX INSPECTOR FOUND GUILTY OF EXPENSES --- Tax
Inspector JOHN EVANS appeared before a tribunal after his own employers the HMRC
looked through six years of records when Evans left the tax office. They
discovered that during the six years, he had been overclaiming on employment
expenses. The tribunal charged him tax penalties for negligence? (7th
March 2010)

PETTY CASH COMPENSATION PAYOUT BY HMRC FOR
CAUSING DISTRESS --- If you qualify? Yes folks they come up with a
piggybank sum of £25 for any injustice, distress and alarm etc, so don't spend
it all at once -- but if it's the other way around you could well face a penalty
of hundreds or thousands of pounds? fair justice eh?

HMRC INJUSTICE -- The taxation of Savings
Income, a tax on interest, according to annoyed David Cardale of Tetbury in
Gloucester. He says that this tax on interest -- already negative after
inflation -- is pure confiscation and a blatant injustice perpetrated by the
Inland Revenue.

' Tax Inspector goes to jail for fraud '

TAX INSPECTOR MARK RICHARD BAKER created 44
false identities in order to make tax repayments to himself -- Swindon Crown
Court heard that Baker who worked at the Swindon HMRC defrauded the taxpayer out
of £300,000. The Judge said he had misused his position! Baker was jailed
for three and a half years.

Update. Baker was brought back to court
where the Judge ordered him to pay back £63,909 of his ill-gotten gains or face
a further two years in jail. Apparently, Baker was a 'Repayment Security
Officer' with HMRC whose job it was to detect under-payers of income tax?

THE DENIED HMRC FINANCIAL INCENTIVES -- Every
time they were asked about the incentive question, the HMRC denied all knowledge
-- but a Freedom of Information request revealed it did exist. A Grade 7 member
such as an Inspector gets a bonus of £1,549 on top of around £51,000 a year. All
employees who deliver a high level of performance and behaviour which exceeds
the required standard level set, can receive bonuses or promotion known as ' A
Performance Award'

TAX OFFICER IN £3 MILLION FRAUD IS JAILED -- A
Tax Administrator, IMRAN AJAIB worked at the Yorkshire, Shipley branch of the
HMRC for just six months, in which time he passed on confidential data to use in
a multi-million pound scam with others. The info about company's details
were passed to the members in order to claim £3 million in rebate payments.
Bradford Crown Court heard how bogus addresses and false bank accounts were
drawn up, and false applications submitted for tax repayments. Ajaib from
Bristol, was jailed for 2yrs-9months.

'HMRC 'Secret Tax Policy' revealed in ruined
fraud case'

The Judge at Leeds Crown Court hit out at the
HMRC over a 'secret policy' they had NOT TO PROSECUTE fraudsters who may have
cheated the taxpayers out of millions in a car scam. This revelation happened
when a case against nine defendants collapsed. The Judge discovered that not
only he, but the Police and CPS were unaware of the HMRC Policy, when they were
informed by a tax official that two of the men accused were given immunity from
prosecution. The Judge told the Inland revenue that huge amounts of time had
been wasted and a police investigation to get the case to court. The wasted
costs were said to be approximately £500,000?

FIFTEEN MILLION CALLS UNANSWERED AND IGNORED
BY HMRC --- One in four taxpayers are unable to discuss their tax problems or
get a polite reply, that should be protocol. Only 74 per cent of callers
were actually able to speak to someone. A consumer group said 'it is like
a lottery where most of us lose' and that can have dire effects for many callers
who are caught up in a claim. They actually say they have improved and admitted
to only 48 per cent getting through to an advisor in 2010. (And in that year
they claimed improvement, familiar?)

In 2010 there were 73,455 complaints lodged
against the HMRC -- During the period of eighteen months April 2010 to September
2011 it only revealed that 212 behaviour related complaints had been
investigated categorising them as 'compliance stream work' so as to avoid
comment on the majority of the other complaints received??

HMRC CONCEALS ERRORS TO CURB REFUNDS -- Money
Mail informed the public that they had been able to get a look at a secret
confidential internal memo that revealed the HMRC was actively hiding mistakes
by staff and inspectors, concealing vital information and did so in order to
lessen claims for refunds that would have been due. One notable comment
they singled out was the following -- ' Although we made errors, the taxpayer
should have picked up on them and pointed them out, which I know seems unjust'
-- which more or less says - if they don't call us (catch us) -- we don't call
them'

HMRC INSPECTOR and his Lesbian Fetish --- One
of Cynthia Payne's clients at the later described ' house of personal services,
sex, spanking and ill-repute' by the court, was a Tax Inspector (un-named) who
wanted to pretend to be a lesbian. This was mentioned in the autobiography book
- 'An English Madam' by Paul Bailey.

HMRC DIRECTOR FEATURED IN PROGRAMME OF TAX
AVOIDANCE - The Director Phil Hodkinson ducked and dived turning black into
white as the programme made suggestions of him being involved with an
'off-shore- Guernsey Company who were implementing measures to avoid paying tax
in the UK....this link went onto involve the HMRC debt collecting Agency APEX
which was connected in the equation. It was evidently clear that some sort of
'slight of hand' manoeuvres were being made by the group he was involved in!

TAX INSPECTOR OVERCLAIMED EXPENSES FOR SIX
YEARS -- Chief Taxman Mr Evans got the post of Clerk to the Commissioners, a job
that involved attending and overseeing tax tribunal hearings. He had just left
the HMRC....who kindly looked at his tax situation and discovered that he had
been over-claiming on his expenses for six years! The HMRC charged him tax
penalties for negligence?

HMRC BEHAVIOUR REPORTED TO ADJUDICATOR --- Tax
Man threatens yet again, not surprising having seen all these items about the
Inland Revenue -- all a fact, and every item true. Taxpayer Brian Costigan
was suddenly presented with a tax bill of £2,500 in 2010...... he was a victim
of the HMRC Chaos......he'd retired at the age of 60, so he decided to help in
the local charity shop Age Concern. It was a part-time job and he did
everything by the book -- sent in a P46 form, and thought no more about it.
Then in 2010 he received the bill for unpaid tax 2008/9 and 2009/10... he found
that the HMRC had awarded him two personal allowances -- one for his pension,
and one for the small salary at Age Concern....which had triggered this bill
because of their negligence and in-house accounting....they have told him they
want £57 a month.....for a clerical error and negligence on their part.

'Customer Advisor at HMRC given Suspended
Sentence'

In 2016 REBECCA GRAY who worked at the HMRC
advising on Tax Credits, admitted to fraudulently obtaining and claiming tax
benefits when she appeared at Walsall Magistrates Court. The court
expressed shock at the fact she advised others on benefits and tax while
carrying out a plan to help herself to taxpayers money by fraudulent means.
They gave her a 2 year suspended prison sentence, and she was dismissed from her
position at the tax office. (2016)

HMRC WHISTLEBLOWER GROUP - 'DISSENT' have said
they will expose abuse of expenses and benefits by Senior Management. The
disgruntled workers in the HMRC say they have members with similar aims are in
every tax office in the UK. They claim that they have taken the blame for far
too long while Senior Management have stood by enjoying fiddling the system
without being brought to book.

THE SHAMEFUL PENALTY CHARGES LEVIED BY THE
HMRC -- A report says that 850,000 people are about to face the dreadful £100
penalty, that is neither fair or justifiable in a 'natural justice' belief held
by the public but rarely called for. They say the £100 is demanded if even
if you don't owe any tax just because it is late, and it covers tax already
paid...its just about their 'jobs worth form'......its strange how this can be
regarded as legal, yet if you sent them a bill for their lateness or negligence,
you're not entitled to a penny....in fact it did say on a form where you
complain...that you 'may' get £25 or a payment? so as
you see it doesn't work fairly at all, your demand for recompense is examined by
them before they pay, and it's not even an independent investigation into your
complaint...the aggressor gets to decide.....and your only course is the
Ombudsman, but he has no power with the Inland Revenue to make them pay
anything.......and after that you are left unable to sue them.

'Suspended Sentence for former HMRC Employee'

INLAND REVENUE'S KAY MAXWELL decided to steal
around £40,000 in tax credits, and falsify her own claim. It states that
she was a tax employee at the Newcastle Contact Centre as an Advisor. She
was arrested in 2016, she had been a HMRC employee for 13 years. She
claimed tax credits from 2011 to 2016. She was given a suspended jail
sentence at South Tyneside Magistrates Court in October.

HMRC MAKE ANOTHER BLUNDER - Anna
suddenly received a notice out of the blue informing her that they had changed
her tax code. Anna could not find out why or how this should be as nothing
in her circumstances had changed. Even when she approached them they led
her in a merry dance of circles. Eventually after making a complaint they
said there had been an error, but it would take a year to amend the
mistake.....and told her the problem was really hers! Not satisfied Anna
hit back, and sometime later they apologised and put her code right.

'Thieving Taxman'

TAXMAN JAILED FOR STEALING -- WILLIAM FRANKLIN, Tax Advisor, handled the accounts of a Surrey Solicitors -- was found
guilty of stealing £1.8 million. He admitted to 217 counts of deception at
Woking Magistrates Court, and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.

BUNGLING TAXMAN HELD TO ACCOUNT? -- Service,
Particularly Customer Service and The HMRC have lurched downwards for years
according to James Coney of The Mail. He cites a NAO report that the
targets the Tax Organisation sets itself are way below similar public bodies.
One of those targets was to answer fifty-eight per cent of telephone calls made
by the public.....

THE IPCC SAY INTERNAL INVESTIGATIONS AT HMRC
ARE WOEFULLY INADEQUATE -- The Police Investigation Authority have said that
Internal Investigation Processes at HMRC are 'Woefully Inadequate' and that
things are not getting better despite targets being issued and later being
missed.

HMRC RESIGNATIONS ON THE INCREASE -- A Report
has revealed that they are up by 45 percent in just one year - 2011 -- Forty Two
managers gave in their resignations in 2011 to 2012. In the year 2010 it
was only 29. It is said that some of the resignations centred around the
PAYE Code mistakes....an insider said quietly, 'you could also not rule out the
working tax credit situation -- things have not been going well there either'

'HMRC Staff Tutor in £15,000 Fraud'

TAX CIVIL SERVANT FIONA LYNCH was found guilty
of dishonesty when she appeared before Livingston Sheriff's Court in the West
Lothians. It is said she blatantly claimed £15,000 in tax credits to which she
was not entitled to over a five year period. After pleading guilty to the
offences she was ordered to do 300 hours of community work and pay back the
money. (Aug 2017)

HMRC NEW TAX 'IT' SYSTEM CAUSES
WIDESPREAD ERRORS --- The HMRC merged 12 regional computers into one system ---
which caused widespread errors with tax bills affecting around six million
people, who are now to be reimbursed for making overpayments. An Insider
who said 'they wish to remain anonymous' said of the new system, 'when a mistake
is made, it's a big one, and very instant' they blamed this on those who
were running the system ' the intellectual quality is just not there, errors are
commonplace ' It is said that the merger of the 12 regional computers has
sent the tax coding system into chaos.

HMRC CHIEF HUMILIATED IN QUESTIONING BY PUBLIC
ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE -- David Hartnet the former boss of HMRC found himself being
grilled by Margaret Hodge Chairman of The House of Commons Public Accounts
Committee over a deal that let Goldman Sachs get off with a deal involving only
£10million of tax. He was criticised for for a failure to seek proper legal
advice involving specialists and not taking notes during negotiations with big
companies. When he retired he did a deal with the HMRC to work for up to
40 days, and the pay is not being disclosed!

HMRC LOSE £2.36 BILLION MOSTLY OVER MISTAKES!
The National Audit Office reported that the conservative estimate of £1.6billion
was lost by the HMRC as a result of mistakes in their tax assessment departments
rather than fraud by claimants. The report went on to take its usual
course of exonerating the tax principles, rather than own up to its own dodges
and short-comings...and as reports usually go...tell of how they are managing to
over come difficulties despite missing their targets?

'HMRC Lies revealed - Lawyers tactics'

As the Public become more aware of the
'gagging' orders frequently put in place by government on civil servants;
something that has been going on for many years, we managed to search out and
contact a 'victim' employee of the HMRC and their lawyers. Mr R.
says he was unfairly made the scapegoat in an incident when he pointed out to
Senior Staff at the HMRC that they had deliberately tampered with paperwork that
clearly showed they had compromised a claimant wrongly (but wouldn't own up to
it) -- deciding in their 'wisdom' to carry on with the 'cover-up' and action
against the claimant knowing that they had found an error, because it would show
them in a bad light and lead to recording the incident showing faults in the tax
system. When Mr R. appeared at a tribunal for the Inland
Revenue (already geared up to win against the appellant), he was told by their
impressive group of lawyers (who'd arrived mob handed), that he was only to
reply and say what they had briefed him to say (even though it wasn't the
truth). One lawyer took him to one side ' failure to repeat what they had
told him may have an effect on your employment at HMRC' he said reminding him of
the consequences of making the Inland Revenue look bad. When Mr R. read
what he was told to say prior to going into the tribunal, he said he couldn't
agree with the prepared statement and wasn't willing to be involved in a lie and
cover-up. This caused a bit of a shock to the lawyers gathered, and within
minutes he was withdrawn as a witness and told he was not needed. Mr R.
said he was willing to go in, but only to tell the truth...but at that point he
was barred from entering the tribunal that had got under way. Within
a month following that day, he found himself 'dismissed' and his employment
terminated on the grounds of misconduct --- and to make matters worse, he
suddenly became aware that his colleagues deserted him, and the union didn't
want to know; even though the literature and conditions of membership said they
were there to protect the rights of members in all kinds of disputes arising
from their employment. One other worker eventually told him that they were
not allowed to converse with him because a 'gagging order' was invoked
preventing discussing anything with him, 'you don't say anything against
management or other employees, you should know that'

'Corrupt Taxman is jailed for 4 years'

It was said in Court that JOHN FIDDLER stole
around 250,000 pounds from the taxpayer at his tax office in Bootle on
Merseyside, where he accessed tax details for people who he had met in the
Public House. Liverpool Crown Court learned that he had set up and
authorised false tax rebates and sent out cheques to the people he had met.
In order to cover his tracks, he created false documents to back up the many
refunds. He also had help from and recruited HMRC colleague MARIE TILL,
and for her part in the tax fraud, she was jailed for ten months.
(2nd Feb/2004)

HMRC CIVIL SERVANT ARRESTED IN CORRUPT
PAYMENTS PROBE -- An un-named tax employee was caught by the police team
investigating phone hacking 'Operation Elveden' The civil servant a
50 yr old man was taken with a female from their North-West London home to the
Central London Police Station in connection with the making of corrupt payments
and on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

CUSTOMS CORRUPTION CASE ORDERED TO STOP BY
GOVERNMENT -- The Government ordered police to drop a corruption case against
the HMRC Customs Department involving 20 customs officers.....An investigation
by the police which had cost the taxpayer £5.5million and six years, was
unexpectedly brought to a sudden halt by the government. Customs Director
Terry Byrne and HMRC Lawyer David Pickup, were ordered to stay away from their
offices while police examined allegations against them. The focus then turned
towards the investigation of twenty customs officials.....the inquiry concerned
smuggled alcohol besides a number of other incidents besides Senior Customs
Officials. But suddenly out of the blue, the CPS without explanation, said
that 'it was not in the public interest to continue the investigation' despite
the cost to the taxpayer. MP Norman Lamb said 'it was disgraceful' for the
government to be so secretive and decide the public should be kept out.

NB: As we said at the beginning of this list,
this department is 'untouchable' if required, and any threat to them such as a
huge corruption investigation against the HMRC can and will be dropped......just
like the above......it happened with the heroin case and officers in an earlier
corruption case......it was stopped by the government.

FORMER HMRC 'FRAUD BUSTER' CAUSES ANGER --
Former Inland Revenue Chief Richard Alderman angered MP's because of 'The big
pay-offs to pals' at the S.F.O. where he works now, especially the generous
travelling allowance of £27,600 he gave to Ms Williamson (who was a former
colleague at the Inland Revenue when he was there). MP's branded Alderman
as 'dilatory, sloppy and slovenly' and were angered by the big pay-offs which he
handed out to Senior staff without consulting the Treasury. He also
approved payments of £15,000 to Williamson and Chief Capability Officer Chris
Bailes, to head off legal claims that the two were planning to bring in relation
to 'whistle-blowing' allegations made by SFO staff on the advice of his HR
Chief, rather than the lawyers.

' HMRC Officer jailed over £12,000 Theft '

KAREN HINDLE a Co-ordinator with the HMRC was
jailed at Southampton Crown Court for 12 months after she was found guilty of
stealing £12,000. It was said in court that she had plundered the accounts
of those she was asked to pursue over unpaid tax, The Hampshire Tax
Official had bank details of around fifty taxpayers. She was found guilty
of 67 dishonest transactions.

THE HIDDEN WRONG-DOING AT THE HMRC ---
Concealing data on those tax officers and employees who have committed 'minor
offences' has been revealed by a former worker who we sadly cannot name due to
what is termed as a 'Compromise Agreement' roughly translated as a gagging
order, which prevents them officially from 'spilling the beans'.....however even
so, the whistleblower said there are deals done between the DWP and HMRC behind
closed doors in regard to the real 'discipline figures' and the figures for
public consumption. She tells that the cases are looked at over and over
again by 'legals' in an attempt to find a way of 'downgrading' an offence or
complaint so that it can 'disappear' officially....and be dealt with in-house.
She said that some of those involved call it 'the dilution process' which
enables the team to submit fewer cases to the final panel. Then there are
the 'Assessors' a group who sanction the use of 'written or verbal warnings' to
errant staff who have not wriggled their way out of the situation....these are
kept out of the figures for submission to the Standards Committee.....who then
issue the final 'doctored figures' for the Press and Public to see. Of
course, the union of Public Servants in the Civil Service are consulted at that
point so that they can agree that figure......and that's how this whitewash can
be done......nice and tidy eh?

HMRC PRESS OFFICER CHARGED OVER MISCONDUCT --
A recent case, quickly shoved out of the way....it concerns Press officer at the
HMRC Jonathan Hall who was caught in the 'Operation Eleveden' for exchanging
Revenue Information for payment according to the Internet article. The CPS
said that Hall and partner Maria Bukarwicz, and a Sun Newspaper Journalist
Clodagh Hartley will be charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public
office. Details say that The Sun Newspaper paid £17,475 to HMRC Press
Officer Jonathan Hall via his partner Maria Bukarwicz. The file on this case was
submitted by The Metropolitan Police.

MAN TO SUE THE HMRC OVER ARREST --- Public
Relations Executive Richard Hillgrove has threatened to sue the Tax Office and
his accountants over a wrongful arrest. He said that the HMRC and Police
arrested him in Somerset and subsequently charged him with cheating the public
revenue of £10,000 when he appeared before Taunton Crown Court in September
2012. 'I shall be making an official challenge over this arrest' he said.

'Another Tax Officer goes to Jail'

SWINDON HMRC TAX OFFICER IS JAILED -- Tax Man
Pervaze Masih's cancelling tax penalties for a friend led to his downfall and a
jail sentence. Masia was found guilty of 'defrauding the HMRC' of £43,327
by the court, who heard that he had decided to help out a 'childhood' friend and
pal, Paul Cole who was having financial troubles. The court found the taxman
guilty on four charges and said that he had abused his position in the HMRC for
his own benefit and that of his friend.

THE HMRC 'DEBT COLLECTORS' CONTRACT -- Debt
Collection Agencies and the Government Tax System would at first seem unreal,
but it isn't, this abomination of twisted legal practice could only be invented
and carried out by 'the civil service' and the many employees at the various tax
offices. It's no use calling them 'heartless' as one former taxman, Mr
Avery, admits it's like water off a duck's back to most of them. He tells
us he has worked in London, Birmingham and Preston, and has frequently seen
'mistakes and callous vengeance' exacted on some claimants leading to
'falsified paperwork' (when someone alters a form rendering it suspicious and
wrong) leading to demands of payment being handed over to 'debt
collection' without any real checks having been made -- often made an excuse
with that phrase 'work overload'. He tells us it is quite a 'cosy'
relationship they have, one the managers enjoy. Mr Avery tells us that
many people have suffered hardship and wrongful accusations, and when on
occasions it has discovered (because the claimant has complained and fought
back) no-one at the tax office has been brought to book, dismissed or penalised?
-- and neither was the debt collection agency! He informs us that many
officers and staff in the tax office just laugh and put two fingers up at the
successful claimant...... that is the tax office, and how they react to the
public.

HMRC BOSS and Chief Executive Lin Homer tried
to quash allegations that the HMRC were acting in a 'brokers' roll by
introducing tax advisors to private companies. He denied the accusations
challenging the press to show evidence to support it........probably knowing if
there was any, the HMRC held all the cards!

HMRC KNEW ABOUT TAX LOOPHOLE FOR COMPANIES BUT
SAID NOTHING -- The HMRC let several government contract companies on
lucrative contracts use a legal loophole to avoid tax. The private Care
Companies cut their taxable UK profits by taking high-interest loans from their
owners through the Channel Islands Stock Exchange. They racked up large
interest payments to their parent companies so that they could reduce and cut
their tax liabilities. A watchdog said over thirty companies were benefitting
from this, and the Inland Revenue knew about it. The Government introduced
the quoted' Eurobond Exemption' in 1984, which received very little public
attention....definitely hardly at all outside the financial institutions.

THE STRANGE BUSINESS AT THE HMRC -- Tax
Avoidance Scam? within the HMRC! Well it seems that the HMRC are not all
that squeaky clean, especially with tax deals made behind closed doors.
One hears of the case of Mr Ed Lester and the HMRC agreeing that 'no PAYE to be
deducted in a nice deal that the treasury was not aware of' and the one about IT
Officer Deepak Singh who was turned down for promotion......resigned, and then
was rehired to do the same job, and given a 'tax free lump sum' said to be
£19,200.... and what others have benefitted from moves like this?
obviously you'll not find them....the HMRC will take care of that.

' Nine HMRC staff in racial misconduct case '

THE REPORT HEADS WITH THE MISLEADING 'SEVEN
WORKERS SACKED' -- But two others resigned before going in front of the
Internal Inquiry. They tampered with office records and deliberately
underpaid child benefit to people from ethnic backgrounds. The HMRC
officials who worked in a Belfast Office were dismissed for racially motivated
gross misconduct. It was found that they altered and tampered with
claimant forms and data in order to deliberately reduce the proper entitlement
to which they should have been paid. Interestingly again, the HMRC refused
to identify the people involved! (Aug 2010)

HMRC TAXMAN RESIGNS AFTER SECRET FILMING --
David Heaton was caught in a camera sting and probe by BBC's Panorama team and
Private Eye..... he was caught on camera offering advice on how to avoid tax.
The Government Tax Advisor resigned shortly after the programme..... saying he
had 'done nothing wrong ( a somewhat familiar and tired phrase used by
Government workers). The HMRC immediately began to distance itself
from the tax man,,,,,,,which comes as no surprise!

HMRC WORKER ARRESTED BY POLICE -- a
Bootle HMRC employee was jailed for four months at Liverpool Crown Court because
he appeared to be a risk to the public. Gordon Redfern an HMRC worker
phoned the police to warn them that he was having thoughts about killing fellow
workers at Litherland House in Bootle. A hunt was launched and he was
tracked down and arrested. It was stated that he had been suspended and
then dismissed from his work for gross misconduct in 2012.

HMRC ADMITS TAX MAN IS AT FAULT -- As 57 per
cent of claims made against the HMRC are won by the claimant. Internal Data says
that over half of the challenges to wrong tax are upheld on appeal. In
2011 out of 58,110 complaints made against the HMRC over half were won by the
public. Many complaints were about the Debt Management
Office,,,,complaints received often said there was poor treatment by staff,
delays and errors and mistreatment by staff. In 2011 to 2012 HMRC paid out
£363,954 in compensation along with a total 'errors' cost of 1.3 million.
In 2012 they received 75,000 complaints.

TEN HMRC CUSTOMS MEN were accused of
organising drug runs into Britain to boost arrest rates -- It is said that
Customs Officers encouraged smugglers to send shipments to the UK so that they
could swoop on them. See the full article and details at
www.thefreelibrary.com

HMRC BOSS FACES PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE --
Not for the first time either. JIM HARRA The Director General of Business
Tax has been called by the Commons Committee to explain accusations against his
department of letting several firms breach tax rules.....this came about as
Google and other giant Internet firms used the immoral tax avoidance ploys to
dodge paying the right amount of tax. Harra is one of three Inland Revenue
Officials who will be called by the Committee.

'Former Tax Inspector Jailed '

FORMER TAX INSPECTOR (TRAINEE) MALCOLM MACLEAN
previously with the HMRC was said to have used his knowledge to defraud the
taxpayer of £358,000. He was jailed for 3 years after pleading guilty to
fraud. He appeared before Newcastle Crown Court, it was said he and
two others running an accountancy and taxation firm falsified documents and
manipulated clients' accounts to cover up the tax fraud.

HMRC 'BULLYBOY' TACTICS - Yet again we find
that the Tax man has no qualms about sending threat letters to even innocent
families in an attempt to get tax owed or otherwise. This new move rests
on the tax staff thinking you owe more than you say, and the amount of tax they
expected. It is said that nearly 11 million people file self-assessment
forms each year, yet officers are making assumptions that have menacing
consequences to the person. It says most of their targets have been in the
self-employed professions...where even coming out without a loss is hard, never
mind a profit...but the tax staff continue to think they're lying and concealing
a stash of cash......and why is this happening?.......because they have a
shortfall of £35 billion (the tax gap).

HMRC HUMILIATED BY AUDIT OFFICE - THEIR SUMS
ARE OUT BY £1.9 BILLION --- Well, humiliation doesn't last long with these
people, its like water off a duck's back... The National Audit Report said the
tax people had wrongly claimed to have beaten its targets by £1.9 billion a year
since the coalition government arrived. The Accounts Committee said it was
a 'serious error' which brought into question whether the tax people were up to
doing the job properly. They said if the HMRC get their own figures wrong
then how can they go attacking the others hurling condemnation they filed
inappropriate tax returns.......... they can, and do, an error to them means
nothing.....they have immunity from the state.

HMRC PICK ON EASY TARGETS TO BULLY -- A report
shows that the Big Corporate Tax Avoiders are doing rather nicely, and that is
backed up by the Parliamentary Watchdog -- The Public Accounts Committee.
Margaret Hodge the Chairman said tax officials are holding back from using legal
sanctions to recover money from large companies who use aggressive tax schemes
to minimise their bills....leaving the small firms and individuals to make up
the shortfall of what the revenues should have taken.

HMRC ' HOUND' CAFE OWNERS...JUDGE TELLS THEM
THEY WERE WRONG TO.......The HMRC yet again chose to pursue and victimise a
target they said owed them £500,000.............but Judge says the Cafe Owners
were 'transparently honest' (unlike the HMRC)... Icilda and Hugh Newell had a
small takeaway cafe in North London, they didn't make much money....and because
of this tax staff and Inspectors became suspicious....they came to the
conclusion that the Newell's were hiding the true profits.... because they can
never accept someone runs a business on a 'shoestring' ( because they like what
they're doing or indeed have to). HMRC and their suspicious little minds
made their own 'dreamed-up' estimates saying they were hiding £700,000 in
profits....which didn't actually exist. But they were having none of this,
the Newell's had to be exposed and brought down as true criminals of the
system....that is how the staff at HMRC see people. They constantly
demanded payment and the case went before a tribunal. The Judge Roger
Berner said on summing up the case ' The HMRC was wrong to demand extra tax and
ruled in favour of the Newell's who'd suffered months of stress and worry caused
by the staff at HMRC. A spokesman for the HMRC said they didn't
comment on individual cases? ...... especially when it shows how callous they
really are!

'BLATANT REVENGE TACTICS BY HMRC' -- Becoming
obvious isn't something the HMRC care about any longer and taking revenge on a
critic is seen as fair game and within their remit. Reporter and
Journalist Alex Brummer revealed this when he was prepared to say that he had
been targeted as a result of doing articles on the HMRC and what they were
up to. He said he was recently the subject of an HMRC inspection, and his
tax affairs were highly scrutinized..... for any sign of tax avoidance!
This inquiry certainly followed two opinion column pieces questioning the
alleged sweetheart dealings of former HMRC Boss David Harnett....and he believes
this led to an order being made to go after him.

'Arrest of HMRC taxman halts expensive court case
'

A CASE CONCERNING £31 MILLION was adjourned
and halted as news broke that DAVID DUTHRIE a Tax Revenues Officer in Edinburgh
had been arrested by police..... relating to 'Criminal behaviour in relation to
the officer's role as a tax official' Duthrie at the time
(2008) was involved in a 12 man team investigating firms and preparing witness
documents. A Spokesperson for the HMRC said that the adjournment of
several months could be very costly to the taxpayers, and improper behaviour
lodged against a staff member is taken very seriously, and we cannot comment
further?

UNIT MANAGER AT HMRC IS SACKED -- The
un-named woman, a line manager in 2012 was dismissed but not charged by the
police despite an IPCC recommendation and the CPS knowing of it. It was
discovered that she was involved in a £10,530 credit card spend over a 12 month
period. Being a 'team leader' she had access to a number of HMRC credit
cards, and the money she spent on 'Intelligence Purposes' in her claim was
disbelieved by the tribunal who said that it was highly implausible. She
said some of it had gone to the Unit's petty cash, but the Internal HMRC
Disciplinary hearing decided on her being dismissed.

HMRC IN PENSION FIDDLE? -- Possibly so as they
win even if you suffer a loss. One man invested his £37,000 pension pot
after being advised by one of these Pension Companies. He later found out
that his £37,000 was reduced to about £25,000 after their fees etc, and then the
HMRC reduced this to around £10,000 saying that he'd been misled by the info
given and the tax had to be paid......so he lost £27,000 for trying to do right
for his pension and HMRC made out that it was his fault.

HMRC IN TROUBLE OVER WINDING-UP PETITION PAY
COMPENSATION -- 'The whole episode can be described as 'Civil Servants
Syndrome' said Enta Chairman Jason Tsai, 'there is no accountability when civil
servants make mistakes. The HMRC should not have placed the petition in
such a hurry, and luckily the Royal Court of Justice has ordered HMRC to
compensate Enta for all legal costs incurred in us having to defend the
petition. Enta Technologies were served with a petition from the
HMRC. An HMRC solicitor refused to comment about it, and would only
confirm that the petition was no longer 'live'

' Taxman guilty of £17,000 fraud '

NICHOLAS KNOWLES an HMRC Employee from
Rochford, appeared before Basildon Crown Court on seven charges of fraud, and
was found guilty of stealing more than £17,000. It was said that he
submitted 47 fraudulent invoices to the Benenden Healthcare between 2005 and
2011. He submitted 'home made' invoices totalling £17,610.20 for medical
treatment he had never received. It was heard in Court that he intended to
challenge his dismissal? and that his crime had been affected by a Drink
Driving conviction and marriage trouble.... the Judge gave him a community order
with tweve months supervision.

HMRC TOLD TO PAY £246,000 IN COMPENSATION TO
COMPLAINANTS -- The Tax Adjudicator said the HMRC were very poor on treating
complaints, and that the Independent Watchdog found for nine people in every ten
who had lodged claims against the HMRC. He said many of those dealt
unfairly by the Tax Office endured many months of stress fighting the HMRC for
justice, which was never likely to come their way had there not been an appeal
system. The adjudicator said over a 12 month period he had received 12,074
complaints about shabby and awful treatment at the HMRC. The Watchdog
resolved 2,311 complaints, and of this number, 2,7073 went in favour of the
complainant.

THE HMRC 'HIDDEN AGENDA CASE' -- Secret
actions, no public accountability. 'The Baxendale Affair' a case that the
HMRC would not like to be shown -- but here it is -- This involves secret
identities, The Inland Revenue and the Legal Profession (more details of this
are revealed in Featured Lawyers). The Baxendale Case ended up in the High
Court far from Press interest and public view via The Queens Bench.....it
involved a Mr David Keys referred to in court as BWS....Keys was a
fictitious name.....his real name was Paul Baxendale-Walker, who was a player in
the Law Firm of Solicitors.. Baxendale Walker. He was taking on 9
prominent defendants. 'David Keys' was posing as an Investigation Director
with The Special Investigations Section SIS... said to be working for the HMRC
as part of its Private Investigation Initiative......He later denied being an
HMRC OFFICER? He claimed to be a very well known and high profile expert
in tax matters! who devised schemes for clients (the nine defendants) who
made accusations of fraud against him....saying that he'd never been challenged
by the HMRC on this matter.....he also uses the word 'Successfully' in relation
to this too?......Baxendale said that prior to the events and leading up to the
court case, he was a Solicitor of the Supreme Court?.......You may be puzzled by
all of this and asking what the HMRC was up to?......sadly we don't have those
papers or documents, our source managed only to supply these.....but what we do
know is that The HMRC do get up to some activities they want kept very secret.

NB: A law firm involved in the above was
DELOITTE LLP and that comes up again in the next article?

We have decided to print this next case in
full so that you can truly see how the HMRC operate when they wrongfully tried
to destroy a company, families and jobs based upon false evidence and lies......
read it all and see what you think of a department that bends the law to suit
and protect itself..... but in this case, they are now being sued........

How one family were brought to their knees by the taxman

One businessman tells how his life was destroyed after being wrongly accused of
fraud by the HMRC.

By Alasdair Palmer

9:00PM GMT 01 Dec 2012

Rick Hone will never forget the morning of
February 5, 2009. “I was in the car when I got a phone call from the office. The
voice at the other end of the line was hysterical. I couldn’t really understand
what was happening. I just knew I needed to get back to base immediately.

When he returned to Abbey Forwarding in
Woolwich, London, the drinks warehousing business of which he had been a
director for five years, he was shocked by what he saw.

”There were about 20 officers from HMRC [Her
Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the tax authorities],” he remembers.

“Some of them were already changing the locks
on the doors. Others were going through the company’s documents and computers,
packing them up to take them away.”

One officer came up to Mr Hone and told him:
“You owe over £5million in taxes. You can’t pay it. The company will be closed
down to protect the creditors.”

He introduced a woman whom he said had been
appointed liquidator by HMRC to liquidate Abbey Forwarding.

“She told me that I had just been sacked,
along with half the other staff,” Mr Hone remembers.

“She would sack the rest in four to six weeks
time: for the moment, she needed their help in winding down the company.”*

The woman was Louise Brittain (correct). She
now works for Deloitte, charges around £750 an hour, and is described as very
tough and experienced. In 2010, she was ranked 17th in Accountancy Age’s list of
the industry’s top 100 power players.

She has said that she works out “the pinch
point for the fraudster in advance. It could be their family or a house they’re
particularly emotionally attached to.”

Having identified it, she goes for it. Mr
Hone’s 'pinch point’ was his business. He and his fellow directors, Richard
Mills and brothers Pat and William Owen, whose father had started the company in
1971, didn’t know what to do. “We were looking at financial ruin. Louise
Brittain told us our personal bank accounts had all been frozen. We had been
ejected from our own company. Thirty-two people had lost their jobs. We didn’t
even know where we would get money to live on.”

The action by HMRC had come out the blue. “Our
business, systems and accounts had been given a very thorough going-over by a
man from HMRC only a month prior to the liquidation order,” Mr Hone recalls.

“We had a letter back from him which gave no
hint that we were suspected of fraud. In fact he said our accounts were in
order.”

I have seen that letter. It identifies a
failure to keep some records according to approved protocols, but also states
that “no inaccuracies were identified.”

So what had persuaded HMRC that Abbey
Forwarding was “at the centre of a large, multinational, multimillion pound
fraud”?

It had a turnover of several million pounds a
year on the business of storing and arranging the transport of beer, wines and
spirits. The taxes on alcohol are a large part of the retail price, and a great
deal of money can be made by avoiding them. But why, having been through Abbey’s
books and not identified anything which indicated fraud, did HMRC think the
company was engaged in avoiding taxes?

The details of HMRC’s case changed several
times: its essence was that its directors had systematically aided and abetted
the evasion of the duty on the drink they stored and transported. But it was
based on suspicion, assertion and the conviction of its officers that fraud was
being perpetrated, rather than hard evidence.

“It was a nightmare, everything that we had
built up over years of hard work was destroyed in an instant,” says Mr Hone.

“And the worst thing was, we couldn’t even
appeal against HMRC’s order to liquidate Abbey because of its assessment that we
owed £5 million.”

When the liquidator takes over a company, and
the employees are sacked, the directors all become ex-directors. They have no
standing in the company - legally, they no longer have any relationship with it.
So, in law, they cannot appeal a judgment affecting the company. The person who
can appeal is the liquidator. But the liquidator, although appointed by a judge,
is selected by HMRC.

That Catch-22 situation looks very unfair to
the ordinary citizen, who can be crushed beneath the juggernaut of a huge state
agency, without most of the usual checks and balances to ensure that it is not
misusing its power. Mere suspicion by HMRC officials that fraud is occurring can
be enough to ruin a business.

HMRC can apply to a judge at an “ex-parte”
hearing: one at which the company it wants to liquidate is not represented, and
so cannot defend itself.

That is what happened in the case of Abbey
Forwarding. The judge admitted he did not have time to go through in detail the
evidence that allegedly proved their involvement in “large-scale fraud”.

He was persuaded that “these gentlemen are
fraudsters.... there must be a risk, if they are given even a chink of light, of
moving assets, removing computers, shedding documents. [But if] a liquidator can
go in, properly armed in terms of numbers of people, none of this will be
possible.”

The judge agreed to the appointment of a
liquidator. But in fact, “these gentlemen” were not fraudsters, and HMRC’s
“evidence” turned out to be spurious. The judge who granted the liquidation
order could not have known that at the time because he was not given the
opportunity to test that evidence. And what happened subsequently shows the
dangers of granting liquidation orders on the word of HMRC alone.

Eighteen months later, a different judge was
given the opportunity to assess HMRC’s evidence in detail. Ms Brittain, as
liquidator, decided to sue the former directors for “malfeasance”: they had
failed in their duty to operate the company honestly. Judge Lewison was given
the task of assessing whether or not HMRC’s claims about Abbey’s former
directors were true.

He found that they were false. Ms Brittain
had, for example, alleged that on 301 occasions, HMRC had stopped lorries
recorded as having picked up cans of beer from Abbey’s warehouse -- but each one
of those lorries had, when stopped, been empty.

This showed that Abbey was part of a
conspiracy to sell the alcohol without paying the duty owed on it.

But Judge Lewison discovered that, in fact,
there were only three occasions when HMRC stoppped empty lorries from Abbey. As
the judge pointed out, HMRC and Ms Brittain had exaggerated “by a factor of a
hundred”.

How such an allegation came to be made was, as
Judge Lewison dryly observed, “unexplained”. But, whatever the explanation, HMRC
presented sworn evidence to the court that was untrue. Furthermore, on each of
those three occasions, there was an innocent explanation.

Judge Lewison was astonished when one HMRC
employee admitted that he had no evidence that Abbey had been involved in fraud,
but maintained that he had no proof that it was not involved in criminal
activity -- which, as the judge pointed out, is not grounds in law for
liquidating the company.

In July 2010, he found that there was not a
single item that proved that anyone at Abbey had been involved in any conspiracy
to defraud HMRC, or indeed any fraud, and he dismissed the action against Mr
Hone and the Owen brothers.

It was an enormous vindication for them. In
the 18 months since Ms Brittain had taken over their company in order to
liquidate it, their lives had been total misery. “I came very close to suicide”,
Mr Hone told me.

“It just seemed so hopeless. Every possible
way of proving my innocence, of getting my business and my life back, was
blocked. The strain on our family was terrible. My son felt he couldn’t go to
university: he had to start earning. My mother’s pension was tied up in the
business. The legal bills were huge. We had to mortgage everything, and borrow
as much money as we could.”

Mr Hone, from Chiselhurst, Kent, who has been
married for 26 years, said: “The liquidator took possession of my mobile and
called every single person in my address book, including my mother and godson,
and asked them how much money I owed them.”

HMRC and their lawyers were ruthless. Two
months before Judge Lewison reached his decision, they sent a letter reminding
the directors that they were “bound to lose all of their assets and are all
likely to go bankrupt”, and that there would be actions against their “family
members who have profited unduly from Abbey”.

It warned them that they could only “avoid
complete ruination” by admitting their guilt and settling the case.

”We knew we were innocent,” stresses Mr Hone.

“We were never going to give in, not even if
they took everything from us.”

And despite Judge Lewison’s ruling, they came
very close to doing precisely that.

Not only did HMRC maintain they had been right
to close the company, they increased the amount owed to £7million. Ms Brittain,
the only individual with legal standing to appeal HMRC’s assessment, refused to
appeal it. HMRC’s strategy seemed to be to wear down Mr Hone and his fellow
directors by attrition: there were further hearings, costs mounted.

Backed by the state, HMRC had infinite funds.
They knew that their opponents had very limited resources.

But they did not give in. They won a series of
rulings against the prevaricating tactics of HMRC. On August 4, 2011, five days
before their appeal against HMRC’s assessment and tactics was finally to be
heard in court, HMRC withdrew their claim that Abbey’s ex-directors owed £7
million in taxes and duties.

In a highly unusual step, Ms Brittain stepped
down as liquidator. A new liquidator has been appointed on the recommendation of
Mr Hone’s lawyer. He is still awaiting delivery of the relevant documents.

Last week, Mr Hone and the Owen brothers were
in court again, suing the liquidator and HMRC for damages for having wrongly
frozen their personal bank accounts. After that, they hope to launch a case
against HMRC for the loss caused by the liquidation of their company, which
amounts to millions of pounds in legal and other fees.

What happened to Abbey Forwarding is not an
isolated case. Lawyers who specialise in liquidation proceedings note that HMRC
frequently use ex-parte hearings to obtain liquidation orders against companies
they suspect of fraud. Of course, many are guilty as charged. But some are not.

There has been disquiet for some years in
legal circles at the extent of HMRC’s power. Geraint Jones, QC, a barrister who
has been involved in many high-profile tax cases, notes that, as it stands, the
law allows HMRC to be “judge, jury and executioner” in its own case. But there
are no plans to limit that power; HMRC argues it needs the power in order “to
catch the bad guys”.

HMRC will not comment on individual cases, but
they insist there are sufficient checks and balances because they have to apply
to a judge for a liquidation order.

“We only use ex-parte applications in the most
serious cases to deal with the risk of assets derived from fraudulent activity
being hidden, or company books and records being destroyed,” said an HMRC
spokesman.

“We set out to the Court why we think this
approach is the right one. The granting of a provisional liquidation order is
then a matter for the court alone.”

To which, Mr Hone responds: “When a judge was
able to test HMRC’s evidence properly he found it was all rubbish. If there had
been a proper test at the ex-parte hearing the liquidation order would never
have been granted in the first place.”

In his view, HMRC’s ability to liquidate
companies without robust evaluation of its evidence takes on a sinister quality.
He thinks himself lucky not to have been flattened by the power of HMRC; others
may not be so fortunate.

NB: HMRC will deny all and anything, and Liars
Team, the Lawyers team will be there to suppress all truth.

' Iceland Boss takes on the HMRC '

Chairman Malcolm Walker waged into battle with
the tax authorities when they ordered him to pay £2.5 million of tax because he
flew his staff to a £4 million conference with all the entertainment and
trimmings. He saw this as a company expense and therefore being
deductable. But the HMRC doggedly suggested it was 'a reward to staff' as
a benefit of kind and should be taxed. Walker who is boss of Iceland and
is said to be worth £215 million disputes this and intends to challenge the
HMRC.

THE HMRC £2 BILLION BLUNDER OF UNPAID TAX --
it is reported that tax officials wrongly calculated their own performance to
make it look like they had recouped nearly 2 billion in unpaid tax, in other
words deceive, this was revealed by MP's in a highly critical report. They
went ahead and massively overstated their achievement record in 2011 to 2012 and
2013 in annual reports. They claimed they had exceeded their performance
targets even when going before The Public Accounts Committee; up to then the
'error' as they like to call it went undetected. Despite this deception,
the HMRC intend to continue in the same way, business as usual?

' HMRC send out cheap flowers as compensation for
demand of £979.000 '

As we have seen before, such is the nature of
the taxman and staff who work at the Inland Revenue, their generosity know
s no bounds, except that it must be cheap enough. Mr Coke said it was
'Insulting that a taxman thought he could compensate his wife for the trauma of
being sent such a massive demand with a cheap bunch of flowers.' Cafe
Owner Florence Coke couldn't believe it when she saw a tax demand for
£979,092,858.00, she had just opened the new business. It was only later
that Inland Revenue officials agreed that the amount was incorrect and should
have been £17,000 for the five year period their calculation should have said.
Of course. this is far from the first time HMRC have blundered, they've
apparently sent out 100 bouquets of flowers and actually don't know the cost of
them......which is no surprise as they are funded by the taxpayer!

HMRC , THE GOVERNMENT AND THE EXECUTIVES --
TAX AVOIDANCE and the help -- a report says that a government-sponsored loophole
is saving these millionaires and executives £700 million a year. News is that
the loophole is not closed and nobody is doing anything about it. Tax
campaigners said the arrangement was brokered by HMRC and the British Venture
Capital Association amounted to a government-sponsored tax avoidance on a
massive scale.

HMRC SEND PENSIONER TAX BILL OF £4-7 BILLION
-- Retired pensioner Douglas Yeomans who lives in Derbyshire was absolutely
shocked when he suddenly received a tax demand for £4,742,354,255 and was
allowed to pay it in instalments £950 million a month. He laughingly said
in response to the demand, I can afford £255......the demand was for unpaid
income tax?......HMRC have since apologised for the 'error'

'Tax Officer robs HMRC to pay gambling debts'

MARK BARBER stole 55,000 pounds out of the tax
system to fund his gambling addiction it was said in Nottingham Crown Court.
It was said that he abused his position of trust in the Nottingham Office, and
hit on the idea to make false payments to people living abroad, and then claim
the tax back. The discovery of what he'd done only emerged in 2004, and as
a result the HMRC moved him to another office so that he could not handle or
have authority to access payments. This lasted until all the internal
investigations were completed, and then the police took over when he was
dismissed. This ended his career of 27 years in the Inland Revenue.
(8/6/2006)

HMRC IN TWITTER PLAN SAID TO BE LAUGHABLE if
it weren't serious. Politicians have called the plan rather ridiculous,
and Margaret Hodge of The Public Accounts Committee says the idea is
'laughable'.... no customer based service should tolerate such a poor service.
It said that people struggling with their annual tax return due at the end of
the month should contact the Inland Revenue via Twitter. All amid
telephone waiting times of 10 minutes and 53 seconds to get someone to answer at
the Tax Office.

The tax office will of course say that this is
not representative of the HMRC, but we question that in the light of a
confidential document that suggests that regional tax offices contact them
before revealing wrong-doing by a member of staff, --- and that clearly
indicates they want time to choose what or who can be offered up as a sacrifice
- plus the evidence of your own eyes here showing cases and documented incidents
and reports.
We have already seen the secrecy indulged in and we know that some
investigations are suppressed and dealt with in privacy. We are also
assured by our friend who devotes his website entirely to exposing the HMRC that
he has hundreds of cases, and we have at least double what we have shown here.
We have only scratched the surface and further probes across the Internet will
reveal more.

That is our little but not exhausted list, (at least 30
more waiting) we have more for
later on these departments.

NB. Additional item --- Civil Servant
avoids and dodged tax for ten years! A 'back page' two inch column news
insertion in the Finance pages offered up the report that a highly paid civil
servant worked the tax system by being 'off-payroll' for a decade to avoid
paying tax. It is said that MP's were reviewing the case 'behind closed doors'
as around 2,000 public officials are getting anxious about being named if it
goes public, and the majority are in The Ministry of Defence, plus several
others in the Treasury?

'Suing the HMRC carries difficulties'

The Report says that as a result of two Data
Discs being lost by the HMRC, a case for damages (even if the claimant's details
are misused ) would not really succeed in an action. The Data Protection
Act requires damage and distress to be shown to have directly resulted from the
breach -- so in reality, the case would only succeed for a breach of the Act
'7th Principle (use of appropriate technical and Organisational measures).
Negligence on the other hand, would stand a chance in court as this could be
measured by staff inaction, action, and mom-compliance that led to the loss of
the discs not being secure, and who was responsible for the security of the
discs. The loss of the discs containing names, bank details etc, is to be
looked at by the Information Commissioner's Office! 930/11/2007)

'THE ONES THAT GET AWAY' - What we found in
many cases was that other members of staff involved could not be 'got' due to
insufficient evidence despite suspicions they took part. A lawyer said
this result was commonplace ' They do not leave enough of a paper trail or
computer evidence available because they are well versed in covering one's
tracks, and what might be mistakenly left is not enough to take before a court
or the CPS, so they are assumed and deemed as innocent, and Investigators are
unable to take the matter further' Statistics will always show
a 'lower' figure of corruption at the HMRC and they rely on this to virtually
con the public -- the government use these figures for their own use in denying
that civil service crime is not 'worrying', when in fact this is a deceit (one
of many).

In addition to the above - We found that many
of these 'white collar' suspects can go and often do turn to the Internet to
find lawyers who say they can represent any 'accused worker' --- their pages
glorify cases they have won as a result of taking on the Department -- so there
is an obvious reluctance to pursue a case or investigation against the civil
service, who of course, can also represent that office worker with their own
lawyers.

THE MAIL IN ITS MONEY MATTERS CONSIDERS THE
NEXT ITEM IS A SCOOP AND BIGGEST EXPOSE, it isn't, we've got a much bigger one
that will shock those who believe the HMRC are above board. It involves
secrecy and corrupt methods to conceal the truth.... and the so called innocent
staff are involved up to their necks.

'HMRC hides 'errors' to block appeals'

Said to be 'The Great Tax Cover-up Exposed' in
2011, The Mail newspaper say they have evidence that HMRC are systematically
'concealing mistakes and vital information' for taxpayers. It is
said that an 'Internal Memo' reveals secret decision-making meetings among staff
in the compliance department dealing with claims etc, -- a process HMRC uses
when dealing with appeals for leniency from people facing unexpected tax bills.
The 'In-house' confidential document reveals how despite acknowledging they had
made numerous mistakes! HMRC CHOSE to conceal the details and went on to demand
thousands of pounds in so named unpaid income tax. Further to that
in a new development, it was discovered that the HMRC is refusing to accept
official employers forms in appeal cases. These so called P14 documents
are sent to the HMRC to help calculate end-of-the-year tax bills.
Apparently, the HMRC hold the claimant responsible for their errors! and
that's official.

'Taxman faced jail in 'snooping' case'

HMRC TAXMAN TIMOTHY STEVENSON 56, was spared a
jail sentence when he appeared before the Crown Court. It was said that he
accessed confidential records to snoop on tenants for almost 20 years. He
used Revenue and Customs computer systems to look at personal details of
potential renters of properties during the period of 1996 to 2014. The
court described him as being an employee at the HMRC for a period of 28 years,
but was finally dismissed in 2014 for what was described as 'gross misconduct'.
Prosecution described him as being 'obsessed' in his pursuit, in that he kept
hand written notes copied off computer systems in a filing cabinet under his
staircase at home. The article gave Peckham as the general area this all
happened in. (25/4/2017)

'JUDGE GOES AGAINST THE HMRC' In a
surprise to the tax authorities, Justice Kenneth Parker gave his reasons as
'Procedural' when the HMRC took a nasty decision to declare a firm guilty of
wrong-doing when this had not been decided by the court. He said that they
had not given the firm a proper chance to make a defence case against the
arbitrary decision they took; he said such a decision could be disastrous to a
firm and clients, and they could lose everything. (They have
in fact done this frequently and caused many firms to go bust)

'HMRC TAXMAN DESCRIBED IN COURT AS A DRUG
DEALER' --- HMRC Valuation Officer MARK JONES was said to be a drug
dealer by the two men in court. This case from the Wales area was trying
the case of murder by two brothers of a tax man. The Bennett brothers said
they had a loan refused and owed Jones a considerable amount of money in other
loans. Prosecutor Christopher Clee told the jury that Mark Jones worked in
the HMRC and he was also a drug dealer, and that Bennett owed him money on the
day Jones went to meet the brothers at an arranged spot.

MORE CORRUPTION AT THE HMRC -- December 2016
-The Watchdog Programme. It was reported that all was not well at a
student loan company as hundreds of pounds went missing from student accounts,
and they were actually required to prove they were entitled to the money.
This case had Inland Revenue involvement.

'Golden handshake for failed HMRC Chiefs'

Two Senior Civil Servants who were responsible
for the lost details of 25 million child benefit claimants, received massive
payouts nicely called 'severance payments' to quit their post early. One
can see how tax officials have no qualms about screwing the public and walking
away rewarded for something not funny or to be considered okay. PAUL GRAY
and STUART CRUICKSHANK have taken £200,000 between them, and strangely
enough nobody is calling this a scandal. The HMRC thinks this is quite
fair!

'HMRC TOLD TO HAND BACK £4 MILLION TO
TAXPAYERS -- In a move by The Adjudicator who oversees complaints against the
Tax Authorities, he upheld ninety percent of the legitimate complaints of
wrongdoing by the HMRC. £4 MILLION was returned to people they had taxed
incorrectly, plus redress payments. Between 2013 and 2014 the Adjudicator
received 1,087 new complaints. The Adjudicator responded by saying, 'I am
again disappointed to see HMRC staff still overlooking the needs of some very
vulnerable customers.' So don't discount staff involvement in these
dire cases, they are an integral component in the wrongdoing.

'HMRC Destroys firm and Pays out nearly £2
Million over what they call 'an error'

Here's the big one folks, and it was a case
they tried to hide away from public gaze. The Press referred to it as 'bungling'
but they somehow fail to see the more darker factors so blatantly obvious.
This case was manipulated all the way, very criminally too by the tax
authorities who are supposed to serve the general public. And before you
think this is a one off, we will give you others. Details it says in the
report were 'hidden' in the annual report and accounts, which was casually
mentioned while using 30 announcements as cover so that no one hopefully would
spot it on the last day of a Parliament sitting. It showed that a 'special
payment of £1.9million was made to the 'undisclosed' firm; which they are still
trying to conceal. Have a look at the following:

Anderson v HMRC 2016 (the same time as the
incident) at The Royal Courts of Justice. Mr Alan Anderson appellant. The
court in its conclusion said that HMRC are not entitled to issue a discovery
assessment for the tax year 2007/8 on the basis that there was a discovery of an
insufficiency of capital gains tax brought about by the appellant -- it follows
that HMRC are out of time to issue such an assessment. Mr Anderson's
appeal was upheld.

The firm went bust due to the HMRC -- and a
payment later will not fix things, and what do they care. Disturbingly,
there is more to this they don't want said, and that is the pay-off to the one
in charge when this went down. LIN HOMER received a £2.4 million golden
handshake or pension pot when she quit the job. It was revealed that she
was in charge when there were a string of failures, and the Press nicknamed her
'Dame Disaster' she nicely walked away from the whole thing. An HMRC
spokesperson made the usual derisory comments trying to play the whole thing
down as having compensation plans to deal with things that go wrong?

But don't forget here, the HMRC went to the
High Court during the upheaval and obtained and were granted a provisional
liquidation order against the company which sealed the fate of this firm.
As you can see, they act first, and when they get it wrong, deny all and
instigate a cover-up.

In our investigations at the time our PI
obtained a confidential e-mail connected with this so called 'blunder' which
says staff involved were re-assured that they would not be named, and that they
were covered by Crown Immunity and that anyone challenging the handling of the
case could only claim damages by 'Vicarious Liability', and every effort would
be made to keep this matter from the public.

'DAMAGE LIMITATION AND REDUCING PUBLICITY AT
THE HMRC -- The Adjudicator is known as an impartial part of the
complaints service. When a person/complainant is unhappy with the HMRC
handling of their case, they can request a 'formal review' which may lead to the
office of The Adjudicator. There is also another process known as
'mediation', this is, according to internal memos, the favoured course
vigorously pursued by staff at the HMRC in order to 'quieten' and manage any
damaging facts that may come to the surface. Failing mediation, it can go
onto 'recommendation' which involves another review of the case -- in
other words 'manipulation covertly activated' by the HMRC.

'HMRC INCOMPETENCE - REGULARLY DENIED OF
COURSE! --- 3 MILLION PEOPLE were estimated to have paid the wrong tax
after a revealed case of CHAOS left telephone callers waiting for over an hour
on the line waiting to speak to advisors -- call waiting time tripled, one in
five callers had to abandon their calls due to spiralling costs, ones they were
left to bear. The estimated cost to callers was £63 million in 2013/12 which
steadily got to a staggering £97 million in 2015/16. HMRC were unwilling to admit anything was wrong, and the
usual arrogance followed.

'Tax credit victim left in dire straits by HMRC'

Nothing unusual here, it's typical HMRC
treatment. MP tells of how the Tax man forced an aged member in her
constituency had to pawn her jewellery in order to make ends meet. And how
did this come about? well, we have the word 'Concentrix coupled HMRC' two
components, the first being a fiasco according to government sources, the other
being a Rottweiler. This lady had to sell items left by relatives and it
also says another lost all her food in the freezer when the electricity was cut
off. And what of the link between CONCENTRIX and HMRC? Well, the
American based company was hired by the HMRC to root out Tax Credit Cheats?
It's a pity there's no firm rooting out Tax cheats at the HMRC, but I guess we
will have to do. And to finish this piece, it was apparent that HMRC knew
things weren't going well due to the complaints they were receiving, but kept
that fairly quiet, because while they were coveniently ignoring them, MP's were
getting angry letters which ultimately led to the cancellation of this company's
contract.

'JUDGE TELLS HMRC TO REPAY THE FINES' --
Another court case goes against the Inland Revenue when the Judge told the HMRC
to repay fines imposed by the taxman with interest where they have clearly acted
unreasonably. This blew up as the HMRC fined Kathleen Loma because of
their clause 'lateness to file'. But it turned out that the HMRC did not
make things clear or attempt to help in any way, so the Judge decided in her
favour and said she had lost the opportunity to file online in time and avoid a
penalty, and it is not for the HMRC to act in such an unconscionable manner to
the public. He ordered that the penalty of £100 should be returned along
with the appropriate interest accrued.

'HMRC LOSE CASE AGAINST CHESTER ZOO' --
Chester Zoo scored a victory against the taxman in court. The presiding
Judge ruled that they could reclaim the £1.3 million VAT paid because the cash
had been used on looking after the animal welfare etc (8,000 animals).
Obviously in arrogant form, the HMRC disagreed, but Judge Jonathan Cannan ruled
in favour of the charity status zoo.

'FOOTBALL CLUB WINS CASE AGAINST HMRC'
-- Another win for the down trodden. Rangers Football Club won the £50
million case brought by the HMRC. The case involved Employee Benefit
Trusts (loans and payments made to players in a 'tax efficient way'
Judge Lord Doherty dismissed an appeal launched by the HMRC after a tribunal
decision went against them. (2015)

'HMRC Destroys Couple's hairdressing Business'

Yes, we said there was more, and here we go
again -- Salon owner Kristine Swindells and husband Coilin in Bognor Regis ran
an upfront business. She did the hairdressing and her husband kept the
books. Both people were in their 70's, and everything was going smoothly until
the taxman called, two of them actually. The two Investigators or
Compliance officers subjected them both to unreasonable questioning. They
carried out this almost like the Gestapo with the session lasting up to 4 hours.
They were demanding all details of their lives and how much they charged every
customer in the appointments book. Finally, they were both accused of
dodging VAT payments by failing to report how much money their shop had made.
This accusation led to a nightmare that cost the couple thousands fighting the
HMRC for a staggering 4 years. However, after two appeals the case was
suddenly stopped because tax officials 'may have made a mistake' The HMRC
said ' Based on the evidence we saw during the inspection we wrongly advised Mr
Colin Swindells to register for VAT......and they found there was no VAT due!
The HMRC went off unbothered or even apologetic about their treatment and
hounding the couple. The strain and stress caused led to the closure of
the business once the matter was over.

Mr Swindells commented - 'We were treated with
utter contempt by the HMRC'

(It's a pity we don't get the names of these
tax men, because they would end up here on this site)

'TAXMAN CHASES £21 MILLION UNPAID BY THE SUPER
RICH' --- This we've included because its laughable really, we all know they
won't get near their money, because they have prominent lawyers just like the
HMRC who can cheat and manipulate court time and play around until the taxman
gets a fraction of what they want....this kind of headline is to fool the
ordinary taxpayer. The item reveals that the HMRC are locked in disputes
over how much tax should be paid, and some 4,000 inquiries have been ongoing for
three years. And not surprisingly to those hounded by the taxman, the HMRC
looked into just 72 cases of fraud, and only 2 cases were criminally
investigated with one conviction. So there you are, they're really trying aren't
they, and succeeding badly....who would have thought it?

'RICH MAN ECCLESTONE TAKES ON THE TAXMAN OVER
TAX BILL - Super rich Bernie Ecclestone takes legal action against the
HMRC over their claims that he owes more than a £1 billion after it tore up a
settlement agreed in 2008. He is apparently suing them for breach of
contract in view of the new actions they have taken.

TAX CREDIT SHAMBLES AS HMRC CUT DOWN ON STAFF
-- It appears that £1.6 billion of tax credits have been wrongly handed out
according to the National Audit Office. It blames the move on changes as
the new universal benefit arrives to supersede the tax credit system. The
Inland Revenue blame it on errors, something they know well about and use it as
a way out when they get things wrong.

'HMRC FAULTY WEBSITE IS ACCUSED OF CHARGING
TOO MUCH' -- A report says that the tax calculator can leave claimants out
of pocket and facing fines. Also there is the risk of taxpayers being
overcharged if they file their returns online. It is also apparent that
the website cannot cope with the volume of users.

'HMRC ORDERED TO SORT OUT FAILURES ON ITS
CHILDCARE SITE' -- A report says that parents are having great difficulty in
applying for the childcare credit, and this runs into thousands having
difficulty online at the site. Some 2,600 parents are still waiting to
have these technical issues resolved.

'HMRC SNOOPING ON FACEBOOK' - This
little headline appeared saying that the HMRC were offering £20,000 bribes to
anyone who would give up information on their friends, colleagues and
neighbours. The only thing we think significant here, is the word 'bribes'
and that is obviously something the tax man would deny, even in the face of it
being an incentive for unwarranted intrusion into another person's life.

'HMRC in 31 million Injustice Case'

A court intervened when the HMRC told a sole
business Scaffolder to pay them £930,000 when in reality he only owed them
£11,153 in unpaid VAT. Matthew Hodges was accused by the taxman of evading
£529,536 in VAT on top of an unpaid penalty of £399.734 for non-payment.
It was heard at the Tribunal that most of this ridiculous demand came from
estimates the tax man conjured up. An Independent Accountant, Mr Hubbard
said of the HMRC figures, 'It looks to be little more than a simple
back-of-the-envelope calculation with no thought being given to the reality of
how one person could have achieved a turnover of that level to attract that kind
of bill.'

'TAX CREDIT HELL FOR ONE FAMILY' --
Anisha Walshaw said her family were barely surviving, and lived on a poultry
£3.50 a day due to the HMRC Tax Credit system blunder that happened when she
least expected. She said there was a catalogue of 'errors' by the tax man
since 2003 concerning her tax credits. However, this didn't stop the
callous behaviour of the HMRC sending bills of £25,000 and £10,000 at a time.
It was said they were claiming money 'wrongly' paid to her. Mrs Walshaw of
Walton near York thinks this started with 'a change in circumstances' which was
mis-recorded by the HMRC. A local MP intervened and the HMRC have said
they will look into the matter soon.

'HMRC AND FACEBOOK AND THE COSY DEAL'
-Another little bit of news that shows who gets into who's bed....apparently,
Facebook paid just £4,000 in tax and the HMRC spent £27,000 of taxpayers money
on adverts with them!

'HMRC's DIRTY TRICKS DEPARTMENT' -- Nick
Morgan nicely shows us how they do what they do, and what happened to him when
he did a tax return. Nick Morgan is a freelance journalist who
investigates and writes articles, and luckily he isn't as underhand or dirty as
some of the staff at the HMRC. They lie he says - they look at your
expenses and immediately reduce it by 75 percent, They bully and trap
taxpayers -- an accountant advised this ' never attend an interview with HMRC
without proper representation, they use everything you say to discredit your
claim and demolish your honesty and make out the claimant is lying...when in
fact they do that. The Complaints team he says are not impartial, they are
in league and part of the same investigation...always on the side of HMRC.
He says they can even find out if you've been to a lawyer etc, and have notes on
what you said and see themselves as solicitors in a court looking at your
witness testimony to catch you out when you don't say exactly what you wrote.
So much for data protection, these guys are way above the law and they choose
which one they want to use, and frequently break it without the slightest fear
of reprisal or prosecution...they've got Crown Immunity! At the end of
Nick Morgan's terrific expose of this branch of government he asked the HMRC for
a comment! They declined!

'HMRC DON'T ABIDE BY THEIR OWN RULES' -- When
it comes to demands and what it wants from you they stop at nothing to wreck
your life and cause misery....but how do they react when they owe you? do
they pay you immediately? well, get a load of this as it gives the answer
to that question. Here we see what steps they take not to co-operate or
pay you as supplied by one man (thisistibi) Sift Ltd. He tells us of
a tax return by a largish company which showed they overpaid corporation tax to
the tune of £900,000. The HMRC was contacted and chased for this over
several months, often by phone, and always fobbed off. Despite agreeing
that they owed this money they didn't quite see it as a debt, and no payment was
received despite staff resorting to that cliche 'its in the post' Finally,
they resorted to a new tact and said there was some technical issue on their pc
which means the correct repayment amount is not being shown?

What you've got to remember here is that this
agency is willing to suppress facts and compensation cases as we've already
seen, and they won't answer requests for information on how many staff have been
sacked or prosecuted (if any) or give out what they have paid out in
damages....this is the true face of the HMRC....no accountability, no
transparency...in fact no assistance whatsoever if you seek truth.

'FORMER HMRC FRAUDSTER GETS A GOOD COURT DEAL'
-- Former Inland Revenue man Neil J Foster who worked at their Peterlee office
lied on his tax return to steal more than £12,000 from the taxpayer. The
investigation was instigated and led by the HMRC. It is stated he attended
a voluntary interview in 2014 where he pleaded guilty on 4 counts of fraud at
Newcastle Magistrates Court. He was given a suspended prison sentence and
ordered to pay £165 in costs. Which apparently infuriates other taxpayers
who are threatened by this same government body, especially knowing its one of
their own....and some suspect he's got off too lightly for certain reasons?

'HMRC and The Freedom of Information Fiasco'

Why someone should think the HMRC will be
upfront amazes us here, one seriously misguided person actually wrote and asked
the HMRC to explain their policy of dealing with staff who make false claims and
allegations against other members of staff etc. It becomes evident right
from the start they were going to 'stonewall' him. The letters were many
during what looks to be months. And unsurprisingly, this was the infamous
heartland of dirty dealing - THE TAX CREDIT OFFICE IN PRESTON, one that is
mentioned on this site several times. His first letter (issued by Mr
Renate Ackerman) pleaded - 'Please tell me how many employees have been found
guilty of bullying a colleague at work etc'. HMRC sent an attachment in
their reply of 22/11/2011 in response to this Freedom of Information request.
They simply ignored a direct answer to the letter and made out that they would
pass the request to some other department more qualified to deal with it.
Gradually they came onto costing meaning it would cost a great deal if he didn't
narrow the terms of his request. They then repeated another delaying
letter. And outlined the 'confidentiality of any answer saying he could
not make it public' More letters followed going back and forth going in
the only way it does with the HMRC, nowhere, we know they were never going to
give him the info, and we'll tell you why at the end of this piece. See
the web stuff on this if you can. Finally after the runaround, MARY LEEDS
of the HMRC and Commissioners pointed out with nothing added, see Section 12(1)
Exemption. We've already seen that some time ago, and it means they
are not required to assist a person wanting to know what the HMRC hold or file.
This is the government looking after its own, no accountability here or
transparency, Teresa May isn't going to tell you that the Freedom of Information
Act is subjective and only applies in certain ways.

'HMRC - COMPLAINTS ABOUT ITS CONDUCT' -- The
Telegraph Newspaper headlined this in a more down to Earth related tone, 'HMRC
getting nastier with taxpayers who dare to complain' Apparently in May
2013, HMRC upheld only 30 percent of the 75,568 complaints it processed between
2011/12. This was the highest number of complaints rejected to date.
And in a seperate survey carried out, it showed that the HMRC's internal VAT
review process appeared to be making decisions increasingly in the Taxman's
favour. 'Who'd have thought it?

'HMRC'S MANAGEMENT OF INTERNAL FRAUD AND
CORRUPTION' -- No, don't get excited here, they actually don't reveal anything.
The Official document is designed to deceive in reality and make one think they
are accountable. They issued this little gem in 2012, and it doesn't print
a list of employees caught and prosecuted. Most of the lengthy document is
waffle and dealing with procedures and terms that take one away from discovering
anything. 'Terms of reference' 'method' 'structures'
'leadership' 'areas for improvement' are repeated time and time again using
legalise from the decidedly dodgy solicitors. This is a nothing document
and a fraud really.

' Firm accuses HMRC of bullying tactics '

A report on a small firm's tax nightmare,
revealed that tax officials deliberately spent thousands of pounds of public
money pursuing the small construction company SCOTIA ROOFING in Stirlingshire.
This 5 year harassment by the HMRC un-necessarily cost the small company
£120,000 to defend a winding up petition launched by HMRC to save their
business. After taking over the firm after her father passed away IN
2006, Mrs Aitchison said the HMRC used bully tactics to repeatedly demand PAYE
and VAT payments which were not due, and lodged the petition alleging there was
a £59,000 debt. At no stage were they prepared to negotiate or listen,
they were hell bent on seeing the petition through. 'We were told later'
said Mrs Aitchison, 'We couldn't got to debate, it was not in the public
interest for people to claim expenses against the HMRC.'

'HMRC'S BULLYING IN FAMILY TAX CASE' --
another case supporting the above article. This concerned a small family
firm called 'ARCTIC SYSTEMS LTD' which used dividends from the business to
remunerate Geoff and Diana Jones, the shareholders. Despite a decisive
victory in favour of the family firm against the HMRC in The Court of Appeal,
and a refusal by that court to give leave for an appeal to the House of Lords,
HMRC announced they were going to petition the UK's Highest Court to get their
way. An FSB tax spokesman said, 'HMRC's hard line attitude to a taxpayer
family run business is very worrying, and so is the evident fact that HMRC has
refused to respect the decision of the Court of Appeal, which delivered a
decisive and authoritative ruling in favour of the taxpayer in this case.'
(2006)

' JUDGE SLAMS HMRC OVER MISCONDUCT 'Here's a
third firm in the spotlight, and this was a recent case at a Tribunal Court
dealing with an Appeal by the taxpayer. GEKKO & COMPANY LTD v HMRC.
This one contains the infamous penalties the HMRC are fond of using in a VAT
case that amounted to less than £900. The assessment was £69, plus three
penalties imposed by HMRC, the first being £780, the second one £8.85, and the
third penalty of £10.35, totalling = £888.20. The company is situated in
Lincolnshire (Boston). It is stated that the decision describes a saga of
HMRC bizarre explanations, changes of opinion and those 'errors' -- the
Judge was not pleased throughout the case, and in his decision concerning the
quality of the HMRC's Officers' enquiry work, he cancelled the VAT claim and all
of the penalties, and went on to say 'I frequently deal with taxpayers in
dispute with HMRC. The quality of work is poor, HMRC officers do not take
the time to explain to taxpayers and their advisers their concerns, resulting in
substantial assessments and unfair penalties.' (Aug 4/2017)

'TAX EXPERTS CHALLENGE THE HMRC' (hmrc refuse
to challenge big tax dodgers) -- In 2016 the Tax Officials at HMRC were to
face questioning over spurious claims that didn't add up to close scrutiny.
THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE heard from tax experts that the HMRC were
underestimating the problem of Britain's tax avoidance problems by the rich in
particular. In a 2016 report The Public Accounts Committee noted 'HMRC
told us that its performance in addressing tax fraud was good' but the
assessment of the tax gap shows that the level of tax fraud has remained
virtually static over the last 5 years. Which glaringly tells us they're
either cooking the books or entering a world of fiction. However, a simple
deduction shows us that they are trying to hide things yet again.

' HMRC Employee in £65,000 scam is jailed '

HMRC Benefits Department Officer NICHOLA
FARNINGHAM was a 'benefits adviser who dealt with Child and Working Tax Credits
at the HMRC in Dundee. Amazingly, in her own case, she failed to disclose
that her own claim was incorrect and positively fraudulent, as she was taking
money from the taxpayer to the amount of £65,000. She was jailed for a
period of 21 weeks and ordered to pay over £40,410 within six months at the
Sheriffs Court. (6/4/2017) Go online to get the details if
you'd like to know more. The Record Newspaper.

'HMRC MENTIONED IN SECRET CORRUPTION REPORT OF
2003' - This essentially - Met Police Report, reveals that the
anti-corruption squad led by former assistant commissioner of police, Andy
Hayman, found out that Organised Gang lords and crooks had infiltrated
government departments such as the HMRC and CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE in order
to manipulate investigations and their outcomes, so that corruption would
survive without interference.

'THICK AS THIEVES' -- As one man recently said
in an interview with a radio station, 'The HMRC tax you on income, and
they tax you again at 20 percent in VAT on what you spend, why don't they just
take the lot and give you an allowance? but as the interviewer pointed
out, 'They might just tax you on that too! the Government will see that as
an excellent idea, especially on the poor and less well off.'

'HMRC PROCLAIMED WORSE THAN DEBT COLLECTORS'
-- Almost accurate too, as this was said by a Major Accountancy Firm in Leeds,
one Russell Smith, who stepped forward to say it like it is, and this is what he
had to say -- 'As a tax accountant we deal with the HMRC more than most.
We have regular lines of communication with HMRC's Office, but even we cannot
predict their often 'erratic behaviour' We've had many horror stories
involving them demanding payments that weren't due, and aggressively chasing tax
bills that were only just filed a few days ago. Stranger than that, we've
experienced tax bills go unpaid for years without even a nod from HMRC, while
others; often upstanding business owners, have been hounded by the taxman for
tiny infractions and mistakes. Sometimes infractions aren't even made, in
some instances we've had the HMRC knocking on the door of a tiny business or
taxpayer demanding money they've already been paid, simply because their
officers failed to properly record it. This Government body was declared
worse than even private debt collectors when it came to settling bills!'

' HMRC Tax Officers swoop on Fish 'n' Chips' Shop
owner at 9pm '

A Representative or Legal Advisor (remaining
anonymous) had this to say on behalf of his client -- 'She had a very
distressing call from her client who owned a fish and chip shop. Her
client said that two tax inspectors arrived out of the blue at 9pm despite no
notice being given at all by the tax office. They began their
interrogation immediately depite the shop being still open with just half an
hour to go. The fact that she was without representation didn't cross
their minds as they asked her about business banking and how much had she paid
to supliers. Even though it was embarrassing, she did answer all their
questions despite having to close up for the night early and make sure the till
receipts were okay. Amazingly, all protocols issued by the HMRC were
breached by the two inspectors. They had not made any previous arrangement
to visit, they were not impeded in any way either before or at present, nor were
they out when this visit occured. They just barged in at 9pm and expected
the owner to jump to their orders.' (source - the Web)

'HMRC NIGHTMARE ARRIVES IN THE POST' --
Alison says on returning from a shopping trip, she was greeted by 7 official
looking brown envelopes (all marked Inland Revenue) from the taxman which
informed her that she was overpaid in relation to tax credits. It was a
total of nearly £7,000, to be paid by the 26th of May, or twelve months.
All her present tax credits were stopped and a banking giro was enclosed for her
to pay the money demanded. Alison acknowledges that they did get working
tax credits at one stage when she and her husband were moving house and area,
and her husband was job seeking at the time. And she also remembers having
advised them of changes and spoke to at least one advisor at the HMRC. But
being a long time ago, she threw out a lot of stuff in the move, and cannot find
the paperwork for the period they've assessed her for.

'HMRC BOSS NOMINATED 'DIRTY OLD MAN' -- Sounds
a bit like the sex misconduct enquiry happening now (Harvey Weinstein and all
that). The article dated December the 4th 2010 which can be located
at
www.salfordstar.com/article says 'I would like to nominate NICHOLAS
ANTHONY SHAW for 'Dirty Old Man' - it goes on to say that he is a Senior
Civil Servant, HMRC BOSS Nicholas Anthony Shaw is Assistant Director of Criminal
Investigations for the HMRC North West Region.

PS. If anyone knows why this appeared as it
did from 2010 until now, and more about the incident that has led to this post,
please contact us at
www.corruptionseeker@hotmail.com we'd like to get the full story.

'HMRC FORCE CHARITY TO PAY BACK £125,000 OF
TAX' --- A Sutton Charity along with several councillors are angered to
see that the HMRC have told the local charity that they want immediate payment
of £125,000 worth of tax covering the previous nine months. In a recent
HMRC ruling, organised by them of course, they have de-classified the charity
'Hope for Tomorrow' saying they were no longer exempt from paying VAT at 20
percent for billed costs, unlike the NHS owned facilities. Locals,
including councillors say that the charity is providing a much needed vital
service to cancer patients. Sutton Council in the light of this sudden
move by the HMRC attack, will now lobby the government to look into this matter
urgently. 'We are also calling on two MP's and the Mayor of London to
support our campaign' said Ms Heron.

' Whistleblowers not welcome at HMRC '

MARGARET HODGE of THE COMMONS PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
COMMITTEE said, 'Whistleblowers at the HMRC had been often subjected to bullying
and harassment. Citing one particular case she was very familiar with, she said
'Protection for Whistleblowers was still not adequate, and OSITA MBA, a former
Lawyer at HMRC who drew attention to what he claimed were 'Sweetheart deals'
between the tax authorities and GOLDMAN SACHS, plunged him into something he
didn't quite expect. Margaret Hodge commended Mr Mba calling him a really
brave guy, who found it was becoming impossible for him to remain with the HMRC
after his disclosures, and he had to start his life again elsewhere.

NB. One should not forget the
Commissioners for the HMRC in the above case, they advise all the HMRC
management in order to as they put it ' Very clearly capable of bringing HMRC
into disrepute'. They will obviously stop at nothing to whitewash all the
wrongdoing by the HMRC and it looks like this lawyer wasn't the sort they wanted
at the tax office.

'BARCLAY BROTHERS SUE HMRC FOR £1 BILLION'
-- Through their company 'LITTLEWOODS' the family group of business giants are
suing HMRC for a tax rebate of one billion pounds, concerning 'a compounded
interest rate' on VAT they overpaid between 1973 and 2004. Looking into
this firm we see that Barclay Brothers bought 'Littlewoods' in 2002, and somehow
found out two years later that they were owed millions in this amazing deal, so
why haven't we heard more about this, as this article is dated September 2012.
Have the tax authorities suppressed this item?

'Pensioners finally get a repayment from HMRC'

This case reminds one of the expression 'Buyer
Beware' which tells you that this case concerns those pension pot and National
Insurance schemes by the Tax Office which let you buy lost credits so that you
get a full pension. John and Jan Airey decided to opt for a £7,000
top up for their state pension pot on the advice of the tax people. These
are called voluntary payments to cover any shortfall. However, they were
not told about a change in the rules which rendered their £7,000 payment
useless. They contacted the HMRC and appealed to the then boss, JON
THOMPSON, but this fell on deaf ears! The couple accused the HMRC of
acting like second-hand car dealers, but staff there wear body armour and ear
muffs. It was only when an organisation called 'This is Money' stepped in
that the HMRC agreed to repay the old couple as a 'goodwill gesture'. Mr
Airey said 'They were penalised for an honest mistake, but nobody at the HMRC
seemed bothered. STEVE WEBB a former 'Pensions Minister' said of this
case, I can quite understand that the Airey's felt like they had been scammed.'
(1/9/2017)

' PENSIONERS OVERPAYING £450 MILLION TO HMRC '
-- Since 2010 the Tax Man has known that the system was too complicated and
causing distress to many taxpayers. Millions of pensioners are said to be
getting ' A raw Deal' A report said 'The Public Accounts Committee said
that pensioners are poorly served by the HMRC. They also went on to say,
'It is simply unacceptable older members of society should continue to pay the
wrong amount of tax, often 'overpaying' amounts they cannot afford to lose.'

'NEIL MARTIN V THE COMMISSIONERS FOR HMRC' --
This court case of 2007 didn't get much notice at the time, so here it is.
The Court of Appeal clearly showed that an aggrieved taxpayer can sue the HMRC
in that they have 'A Duty of Care' to the taxpayer. Builder Neil Martin
suffered severe disruption and loss due to the Tax Man because of a stream of
'errors' made by HMRC when it processed his CIS application in 1999. This
led to unnecessary delays, and he was let down by the Revenue Adjudicator in
2000. After this it was onwards to the next stage - The Ombudsman whose
investigation discovered 'persistent errors' (under COP1). The Judge said
' The HMRC employee was responsible even though it was denied by HMRC, and Mr
Martin's claim for damages was upheld.'

'HMRC MAKE AN-OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENT' --
(5/2/2015) This is the case of Sir Fraser Morrison v HMRC at the Court of
Session, It was confirmed that an out-of-court-settlement in the region of
£12 million was paid out by the Inland Revenue following a claim for damages for
misrepresentation. The full details of this can be found at
www.rpc.co.uk/perspectives/tax-take/out-of-court-settlement

'HMRC to be given power to raid taxpayers' bank
accounts'

Yes folk, you're getting this hot off the
press! The words 'WITHOUT A COURT ORDER' made the Commons Treasury
Committee raise concerns over what this means to the ordinary man in the street,
and law! This recent Treasury Plan (of November 2017) is to allow the
Inland Revenue to sidestep normal legal protections in the law. 'It is
very concerning, especially in the light of their history of 'mistakes' and
'errors' said the Committee. It was revealed that HMRC were going to
target about 17,000 people a year using these powers. The Committee didn't
pull any punches when they said 'This could be seen as 'An Abuse of Power'.
One Organisation said, If and when they get things wrong, and they do regularly.
How does one get justice and sue them under the present rules which allow them
to decide the outcome of any complaint. It is already known that the HMRC
close ranks and makes attempts to cover their mistakes and wrongdoing, and some
of these are costly mistakes, and they prevent the public from getting F.O.I.
replies because they already know they're exempt from close scrutiny, and don't
adhere to transparency or rigorous accountability. In fact, they're a law
unto themselves and they use that to beat down the taxpayer.'

'HMRC IN BLUNDER, CUT OFF TAX CREDITS TO
MOTHER -- Mother of one, AnneMarie Anderson's world crashed about her when
the Tax Office suspended her tax credits claim. Even though the blunder
was a mess up by that American firm CONCENTRIX who were contracted by HMRC (now
fired), the Tax Office were pointing the finger of fraud at her, asking to see a
year of bank statements. Even when she complied with this they actually
delayed looking into her case despite knowing she was not getting any official
financial support, and she has a young child as she pointed out at the time!

'Revenue Official in 2 million pound VAT Scam'

This one is a mystery official who is not
named, even though we did try to follow the trail. The report says that
'an official' at the HMRC is under investigation for 'allegedly' authorising
more than 2 million pounds of unjustified tax rebates. The un-named civil
servant is said to be involved with others? The report concludes with 'The
Police and HMRC have identified eight people who may be linked to the scam,
which is believed to have gone on for two years, it further tells us that raids
have subsequently taken place! (16/2/2014)

'MAIL MYSTERY AND SABOTAGE AT HMRC' - A
taxpayer, one of many, says he is deeply worried about his situation in April
2015. He says that he's having a problem with HMRC and mail. Not
receiving letters relating to his self-assessment. He sent 3 letters to
them all first class and registered involving important tax paperwork.
Two were sent to their postcode BX9 1AS, 17th March/14th April/ and a later one
on the 20th, and none of them showed they'd ever been received. He asks if
they are deliberately not acknowledging registered post? Well, the answer
may lie with others in a similar situation,. Others with similar experiences
suggest there may well be a plot to fine the taxpayer who sends it, because they
can levy a penalty of £100....and how does this work? Well, if the officer
doesn't sign for it but merely makes it go away, technically the office didn't
receive it, because they well know that by taking it and signing, anything else
after that date would be seen as their fault. So by not 'receiving the
mail' they render the sender in breach of a penalty, which plays into the HMRC
hands. And finally, one man informs us that the HMRC are systematically
blocking up their post boxes because they don't want to deal with any paperwork
from the public!

Update on the above -- This BX9 1AS is a bit
of a bogus ruse invented by the HMRC, it isn't on the Royal Mail Database.
It is an 'ARTIFICIAL POSTCODE' which sent mail to Bexley in Kent. And more
alarmingly to those that sent packages etc, our research shows this address to
be operating the opening of mail 'electronically' and sending things to other
HMRC offices.

'HMRC Employees under Criminal Investigation'

This little item was recently uncovered, and
it goes back to 19/1/2006, and it centred around a VAT Fraud Trial which
collapsed at Southwark Crown Court. It was said to be one of the costliest
cases ever brought. It was one that the HMRC didn't want known, and they
initiated steps to prevent it. However, 'Special Legislation' was approved
to allow the IPCC (Police Complaints Authority) to investigate HMRC Employees,
concerning the 'failed' £100 million VAT Case. Judge Crane, presiding, was
said to be highly critical of the manner and process by which unused material
had been disclosed by Customs, and raised serious concerns about the evidence
given by HMRC Staff, saying that some had withheld evidence from their own legal
team, which showed they could not be relied upon to tell the truth.'

NB: There was no outcome ever published
on 'the staff members' and evidence points to it having been suppressed by the
Commissioners and HMRC Management along with the Civil Servants Association.

'ANOTHER VICTIM OF HMRC TAX SUSPICIONS' --
There are many victims of HMRC abuse, and not all of them are published.
However, Lorelie Banks will have her space here. She has one son, Ethan,
and she's a single mother who had her tax credits stopped because they accused
her of having a 'relationship' with her brother. Things went so far that
the HMRC sent her a bill for £1.400, and said she owed this. Luckily for
her, The Daily Record was interested, and it was subsequently discovered to be a
'HMRC Error', and they reinstated her payments for tax credits. What they
didn't do was, compensate her for the stress and worry caused to this Motherwell
citizen. (16/10/2015)

THE HMRC 'RUNAROUND-GAME' FOR TAXPAYERS -- (HMRC
FAILING TO REFUND OVERPAID INCOME TAX) -- This report has a familiar theme
now experienced by the taxpayer. M. Boyce has pointed out that the
helpline blurb issued by the Inland Revenue 'If you think you've paid too much
tax, you don't need to contact us, we will automatically send you any refund
due' MISDIRECTION is the word here, and they are not to be trusted, nor
are their answers to F.O.I. requests. M.Boyce began writing to them
for help! on the 15th of September 2015, and continued until the 2nd of November
getting nowhere after being involved in silly games by HMRC staff. 16
letters went back and forth in this matter with HMRC stone-walling at every
turn. The matter was a simple one, but not to the HMRC of course.

HMRC'S UNREASONABLE LITIGATION CONDUCT -- This
one involves the HMRC Lawyers. Dated Sept 18/2017, This concentrates on
the unusual decision to award costs in a VAT case to the 'victim' --
Misconduct of the HMRC and its Lawyers -- in the George Rowell Case. He
successfully applied for the taxpayers legal costs in an appeal against VAT
assessments for £1.4 million. This involved a County Taxi
Association representing some 200 drivers. The Tribunal found HMRC's
handling of the matter amounted to 'unreasonable conduct' and rejected HMRC's
argument by their Lawyers that 'A PUBLIC BODY SHOULD BE FREE TO WALK AWAY FROM
LITIGATION WITHOUT COMPENSATING THE OTHER PARTY FOR ITS COSTS'..........very
arrogant, but typical HMRC.

'HMRC Tax Investigator given a jail sentence '

RICHARD BARR of the HMRC was convicted of a
£500,000 scam the report said. It was said in court that he set up two
bogus companies dealing in electrical products and claimed £500,000 from the
HMRC. It revealed that Barr had been an Investigator with the HMRC, who
looked into financial criminal activities. It was revealed that he used his
insider information to warn two co-accomplices who also came from Birmingham.
When the tax scam was discovered, Barr told the others to destroy or hide the
evidence. The Judge said 'As a former Police and Customs Officer, you
failed the public miserably.' He was convicted at Manchester
Crown Court on a charge of misconduct in public office? and was jailed for
twelve months. It was also revealed that his two companies never existed
at all. (14/9/2015)

'HMRC AND ITS DOUBLE STANDARDS' --
Double Standards? does that sound like the HMRC.....Well, Margaret Hodge at the
Public Accounts Committee (19/12/2011) said so when she heard that 1.4 million
people were sent 'back-dated' tax demands totalling almost £4 billion, after
experiencing problems with the PAYE system. She went onto say 'Revenue
Executives have become 'Unduly Cosy' with larger firms and have tried to hide
from public scrutiny details of a series of deals with companies' HMRC
failed to collect more than £25 billion in 'unresolved tax bills' from major
firms.

'HMRC LOSE IN SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT' --
(March 2014). The mighty Lawyers at the HMRC arrogantly felt confident
that they could defeat the defendants, Secret Hotels 2 Ltd, on VAT treatment of
Booking Agents Services. They had been 'dining out' on previous success at
the Court Of Appeal in 2012. But this time they lost and the Supreme Court
overturned the decision of the Lower Court, stating that 'One aspect of
economics reality is that it is the hotelier, not the Company, who owns the
accommodation and its the customer, not the company. to whom it is ultimately
supplied.'

'HMRC FAILINGS LED TO PAYMENT THREATS' -- This
is the case of Tony Hetherington who suffered misery at the hands of the HMRC as
they kept on demanding a rising assessment of what they said he owed the Inland
Revenue. Tony and his wife suffered stress and the thought of losing
everything once these people at the Tax Office set about them. However,
knights in shining armour, The Financial Mail involved themselves in questioning
the HMRC on how they arrived at these assessments. The result was thus,
the HMRC had clearly failed to carry out a proper investigation. Tony had
actually overpaid the taxman, and they owed him £187. The threats ceased,
and the staff at HMRC just moved onto another victim. (2012)

'HMRC Administration officer is jailed for 2
years'

(May 2013) HMRC Civil Servant ISOMIDOLA
OLAJIDE fraudulently obtained tax credits to the value of £72,000, by using a
false claim as a single parent when she was not. She worked in a London
Branch of the Inland Revenue from 2003 to 2013. The Judge said this was
'Hard nosed dishonesty over a significant period of time' when she appeared at
Woolwich Crown Court, having admitted to tax fraud. She was handed a jail
sentence of two years.

'HMRC IN SECRET DEAL WITH THE FOOTBALL RICH'
-- It was always suspected and known that the HMRC was engaging in 'Special
Deals' for the wealthy' said former Chairman of The Public Accounts
Committee, Margaret Hodge. 'These kind of secret deals for the wealthy are
totally unjustifiable, they are the kind of thing that brings the whole tax
system into disrepute!' The exact amount by which the
football clubs have reduced their tax bills under the secret deal is not known
-- and looking at the HMRC's track record, no one will find out because they
will hide it from the taxpayers.

'BULLIED AND PRESSURISED BY THE HMRC' -- DH
received a demand from the tax man of £3,800, and they wanted it now!
The letter said 'On speaking to HMRC by phone, they agreed this was not the
correct amount. They'd also sent him communicates urging that he sell his
car or anything expensive like sports gear to pay the bill. It appears
none of this was his fault, and the assessment was way over the top. But
DH had to fight them all the way...and according to some top accountants, the
assessment thing is one of the biggest 'legal cons' that HMRC love to send the
taxpayer. (2013)

'HMRC HIT OUT AT DISABILITY CHARITIES'
-- Yet again in their quest to take no prisoners, Lawyer Matt Wort of Anthony
Collins Solicitors spoke out against the HMRC, saying, 'The demand of £400
million back pay taxes from disability charities was 'unlawful'. He said,
'An internal guidance note to HMRC's compliance staff in use until March 2016,
shows the department was enforcing contradictory guidance at that time'
(2017) Go to link for more on this
www.civilsociety.co.uk/hmrc-back-pay-demands

'Former HMRC advisor is jailed over share fraud'

A FORMER HMRC ADVISOR DAVID PERRIN set up a
fairly massive tax avoidance scheme involving charities who suspected nothing of
his dirty dealings. Perrin and Vantis Tax Ltd became so confident that
they actually claimed £70 million tax relief in connection with the shares, and
these shares were discovered to be worthless it was said in court. Perrin
believed he knew the tax system so well, especially as he'd been with HMRC, that
he stole millions of pounds from the taxpayers. He was jailed for 18
months for tax fraud and exploited the rules for his own gain. (Feb 2012)

'HMRC BREACHED DUTY OF CONFIDENTIALITY'
-- What we know so far is that taxpayers are not regarded much by the people who
run the Inland Revenue, and this little item from (13/12/2016) proves it.
The Supreme Court decided that the HMRC had breached its statutory duty of
confidentiality, set out in Section 18(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue and
Customs Act (2005), in disclosing confidential information relating to INGENIOUS
MEDIA HOLDINGS to two journalists during an 'off the record' press briefing by
the Head of HMRC. The Court said 'It was not part of HMRC's function to
pass on confidential information to the Press'

NB: The Head of HMRC who was involved
was not named, nor disciplined!

HMRC PAYOUTS TO SACKED STAFF REVEALED -- This
item is not intended to show regret for HMRC as we openly seek to bring you
cases and information that damages these claims of being reputable. But this one
does fall into the category of character reference and show just what they will
do to their own. It seems that 'disgusting' may not be the right word for
certain HMRC practices that have been going on at the Inland Revenue for a long
time. Worker Alison Doran was awarded compensation of £11,581-03 by a
tribunal panel that heard that HMRC had sacked her for her disability.
Worker Sara Pryde received compensation of £11,570 for a similar complaint
against HMRC, and lastly, Rebecca Smith received £9,000 for discrimination at
work against HMRC. (13/6/2017) There are many others.

'UNIVERSITY AWARD GOES TO HMRC WHISTLEBLOWER'
-- Former Solicitor to the HMRC OSITA MBA was given an award by Middlesex
University for his bravery in exposing corruption and the tax deal brokered by
the Head of Tax DAVE HARTNELL, who let off Goldman Sachs in a private deal so
that they could benefit from not having to pay £10 million in interest. (2014)

NB: One should be quite cautious in praising
this solicitor, the nice bloke image only applies to the Goldman Sachs case, he
was after all engaged in making other decisions for the HMRC that might cancel
out this gesture of openness.

'Man commits suicide over HMRC tax demand'

The affect they have on the taxpayer can have
drastic consequences, which they play down and feel no blame for, and we have
one here, and we'll tell you their response to this suicide. On receiving
a tax demand for £3,000, and being relentlessly pursued by the Inland Revenue
staff, builder Simon Thompson stabbed himself in the heart in front of his
bride-to-be. These facts came out at the Inquest in Worthing, West Sussex.
Like many taxpayers, Simon got the bill at an extremely bad moment in his life
after returning home from a special romantic trip with his wife to be. His
whole world turned upside down by the tax demand, devastating him completely.
A spokesman said 'one cannot lay the circumstances of this on the HMRC?'

PS We can and we do with many others that see
this as the knife that drove him to the act, that letter was clearly a major
factor.

It has been reported to us that, in these
circumstances the tax bill is levied against the estate of the deceased.

HMRC PARTY TO THE CONCENTRIX EVIL -- Thousands
of claimants for tax credit were hounded by this American firm contracted by
HMRC. Concentrix acted wilfully and at times unlawfully in the full
knowledge of the HMRC who always step back and change the story with Lawyers at
hand to write and invent the scripts. People were accused of cheating on
their tax credits, besides threats to have their benefits stopped a report says.
Staff at Concentrix admitted to The Independent newspaper that they were under
pressure to do around 50 new tax credit investigations a day, and they don't
have time to check whether the allegations were correct?

45,000 AWARDS SUSPENDED IN HMRC BLUNDER -- In
2016, HMRC chose not to worry about the problems they caused to claimants
waiting for their tax credits during the renewal process. They caused
unnecessary hardship and distress, and even later they only reinstated 30,000
claims to which people had been entitled. Public Account Committee
Chairman MEG HILLER said 'The HMRC must put right the damage done, and that
means fully reinstating the awards of all claimants who wrongly lost their tax
credits, and ensuring they are properly compensated for any impact on their
entitlement to other benefits'

NB: WE HAVEN'T FOUND A SINGLE PERSON
COMPENSATED.

'COURT RULES AGAINST HMRC OVER UNFAIR CLOSURE
NOTICES' -- Ref: Manswoth v Jelley. -Hely -Hutchinson.
The court quashed closure notices by the Inland Revenue because HMRC had not
properly considered whether assessing tax that was technically due would be so
unfair as to amount to 'An Abuse of Power' HMRC had breached the
principle that all taxpayers should be treated fairly and consistently because
other 'Mansworth v Jolley' loss claims had been allowed,
unlawful use of statutory power to enquire into a taxpayers affairs.

HMRC Chief accused of Arrogance'

'We made no mistakes' said the boss of HMRC
(2010) DAME LESLEY STRATHIE over a tax fiasco affecting millions of people.
She actually said her staff made no mistakes to which she was clearly wrong.
The Treasury Select Committee were not convinced, and blamed her for raising
public anger towards the Inland Revenue. Labour MP George Mudie, a member
of the Committee accused her of arrogance - 'I thought her remarks about
business and choosing customers told you all you need to know about HMRC
thinking. They seem to regret the fact that as public servants they have
to serve all the public.'

'HMRC RUNNING ROUGHSHOD OF DATA LAW' --
The Data Protection Act was supposed to be a legal guardian to millions of
people and businesses in the UK, yet, the HMRC have no regard for it at all,
unless? its their data. And that is protected with all the force
they can use inside or outside of the law. This little item comes via the
solicitors, not theirs I may add. And they believe they have been
compromised by HMRC with their clients, and they risk being sued by them for
releasing confidential information. Strangely enough, the HMRC aren't big
on confidentiality if you've read some of our other reports. (HMRC BREACH THE
RULE OF CONFIDENTIALITY)

'HMRC ACCUSED OF HARASSING SMALL BUSINESSES'
-- Business leaders and Associations along with MP's have criticised the abuse
of power frequently acted out by the tax man as they increase 'spot checks' on
small companies and traders. Mr Walker, the Chairman of the Federation of
Small Businesses said ' We have approached the HMRC on this subject several
times and told them they are not doing themselves any favours in launching this
scheme regardless of the consequences.' MP Priti Patel said ' The
persecution of small businesses is not a welcome thing, and the attitude of HMRC
to small businesses is frankly quite disgraceful.' (2/1/2012)

'Drinks Firm considers suing the HMRC'

ESSEX DRINKS WHOLESALER MILLENIUM CASH 'N'
CARRY are considering taking the Inland Revenue to court for damages to its
business and reputation. The HMRC seized around £150,000 worth of its
stock in a sudden raid and impounded it. QC for the company, Philip Coppel,
said 'This has had a catastrophic effect on the business and daily trade, and
its employees. This is a prolonged and deliberate misuse of highly
invasive powers.' The HMRC declined to comment....now
there's a surprise. (6/8/2010)

'MAN IS TO SUE HMRC FOR WRONGFUL ARREST' --
Following on nicely from the above item, Richard Hillgrove, Advisor to the TV's
Dragons Den team announced that he was told by a police insider to press his
lawyer into a case against the HMRC, because he has a strong enough case.
He was initially arrested and charged with cheating the Inland Revenue of
£100,000. He told journalists ' they stormed into my house and acted
very inappropriately...The Bristol Office! (yes we've got some info on
them) and he was taken to Taunton Police Station for questioning. He
described it like a 'Gestapo' arrest, which other taxpayers concur in other
items on this page. (12/9/2012)

'HMRC IN 'RUBBER STAMP' OPERATION TO SEARCH'
-- This has some nasty HMRC activity so read on --- Lord Justice Gillen said ' A
process to obtain warrants to search the homes of four accountants under
investigation for suspected tax evasion could be seen as just a 'rubber stamping
operation.' He pressed Counsel for the HMRC on the lack of available
reasons for authorising raids on the accountants. Justice Gillen was also
told that the HMRC 'misled magistrates' who granted granted the warrants at
hearings where the men were not represented. The defendant's Lawyer, Barry
MacDonald QC said ' The move by the HMRC was intrusive and breached the Human
Rights Act in the case of the defendants. The early morning raids were
carried out when their children were at home, and this involved officers
trawling and searching through schoolbags! He further suggested that the
Inland Revenue haven't played a straight bat in this case, either in dealing
with this investigation or in dealing with this application for a Judicial
Review.' (30/11/2016)

'Tax Man involved in Child Porn Cache'

HMRC TAX MAN BENEDICT CULLUM was found to have
over 2,000 images of kids, some as early as 6yrs in age, in abuse situations on
his computer. He admitted to one charge of making indecent images of
children when he appeared before Magistrates in Stockport, Cheshire.
Police had made a raid on his house and seized the pc and its collection of
photos. It went onto say that he resigned from his position as a Senior
Officer with the HMRC after the arrest. There were 2,714 category C
images! He was told that he could face a jail term. (29/10/2015)

'FURY OVER HMRC BULLY-BOY TACTICS' -- Often
read about, and little done is the real answer to curbing these abuses by the
tax man, and why is that so? Why is Parliament standing back? Who
are these Commissioners for HMRC and what agendas do they have?
Another 'new' report says the tax man is facing new fury as it emerged HMRC had
been given sweeping powers to fine people who owe money just for knocking on
their doors. People who are behind on their taxes are being hit with stiff
penalties for visits to their homes by the HMRC! (November 28th 2017)

'JUDGE CONDEMNS HMRC SECRET DEALS' --
In this case of the taxman's 'secret deal' which allowed fraudsters to go free
--- We look at a Court case in Leeds. A Judge has condemned a 'secret
policy' by the HMRC not to prosecute fraudsters who may have cheated the
taxpayer out of millions of pounds in revenue through a scheme allowing disabled
people to buy cars free of VAT. This decision by the HMRC was revealed at
Leeds Crown Court when a case collapsed against nine defendants facing
conspiracy charges. The Judge was furious with how much the case had cost
on investigation and prosecution, which was begun and entered into because the
Police and Crown Prosecution Service were 'unaware' of the HMRC 'Secret Policy'
(23/2/2010)

'OUTRAGE OVER HMRC SECRET TAX DEAL FOR
MICROSOFT' -- Corruption meets corruption here as we see the big players in what
one could call 'mutual admiration' -- you scratch my back and I will?
Demands have been made for the government and HMRC to publish details of the
deal it did with the Internet Giant. Microsoft has 'avoided' up to £100
million a year in Corporation tax under a 'confidential agreement' with the Tax
man. Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network said' It is simply untenable
for HMRC to claim taxpayer confidentiality as an excuse to keep these deals
private' The arrangement with Microsoft is known as 'An advance Pricing
Agreement' (The former PM David Cameron was there in 2012 when this was agreed)
Alex went onto say 'It's difficult to fathom how HMRC could have agreed a deal
that legitimised the scale of misalignment between Microsoft's real activity and
its tax profits?

Over 610 civil servants at the HMRC have been
disciplined for inappropriately accessing tax records of taxpayers since the
Department was formed by the merger of Customs and Excise and The Inland Revenue
three years ago says a recently accessed article -- info by a website The A
Register 1st May 2008. The details are sadly far and few between on the
offences committed at the HMRC, and we certainly wish we had the 610 cases to
publish here, mind you, we will still go on searching for these no matter what.
The Financial Secretary at the time, one JANE KENNEDY played down the number
saying it only represented one per cent of the total workforce at HMRC. So
we will show you her figures, the official ones? Between April 2005
to December 2005 it says that 238 members of staff were caught snooping.
In January to December 2006 it says 180 were caught. In January to
December 2007 it says a rise to 192. So taking that this rise indicates a
future upward trend we did a modern calculation on this using the known
'assessment' records the taxman does to mere mortals it goes after and the
figures show this to be on a calculation of x2, and then x2 of that which taxmen
do to you the taxpayer, and we arrive at 2,440 and a figure of around 5
percent each year of the fiddling, corrupt HMRC civil servants.

'HMRC APPLIES FOR THE POWER TO TAKE
FINGERPRINTS' -The Taxman showed incredible audacity in 2006 when it went
to its friends, the government, seeking to gain the authority to take
fingerprints of suspects -- the taxpayer. In fact it wanted free access to
'water down' all rights in law to make it easier for them to get search warrants
and even more evasive powers. They said 'We want to avoid delays, which
often happens when we face the normal channels' -- which was a crass
statement to make in the Press.

'TRIBUNAL RULES THAT HMRC CALCULATIONS UNFAIR'
-- Mr and Mrs Jeffries were hotel owners who began an appeal, and appeared at
the Tribunal Court to challenge the HMRC on a PPR calculation worked out by the
taxman. In the case of the above I.S. Jeffries and L.A.Jeffries versus The
HMRC, it was decided that HMRC's approach was definitely wrong.
(28/3/2014)

'MAN FIGHTS FOR REFUND FROM THE HMRC' --
Branch Manager Mr Mooney claimed he was wrongly treated by the tax man, he
claimed he should be regarded as self-employed, and assessed accordingly.
THE HIGH COURT held that the tax man was wrong in the Lower Court when the
Inspector of Taxes appealed the decision and achieved a win. The High
Court up held Mr Mooney's claim and the HMRC had to pay back a sum of £58,853
refund, and the court also made an order that the HMRC should pay interest on
this.

'The HMRC Tax Credit Rip-off and Clawback'

Not often talked about in detail, so we've got
a case here that shows you just how callous and calculating the staff are at
this Government Department -- so read on.

CITIZEN D had his tax credits terminated in
November by the Tax man A.CREWE in Preston, who made several disparaging remarks
about D-s business, even though he knew very little about it. CREWE was
only interested in profitable businesses. Citizen D. had been struggling
to make ends meet and make a living, and realised for himself that the end was
in sight for the trade he'd set up in 1998. But A.CREWE remarked that he
didn't consider citizen D. was in a trade, profession or vocation that is
commercial. (Somehow, we don't think the other second-hand booksellers will take
kindly to this at all) CREWE promptly informed citizen D. that he was
stopping the Tax credits immediately and re-branding the original award to the
beginning of the tax year on the 6th of April 2017, of which they'd already made
payments totalling £1,745. 01 which works out at £54.53 a week. Which now
means citizen D. was living on a weekly income of around £15.36, not that
A.CREWE cares. Even with the tax credit award citizen D. only earned about
£69.89 a week, which is far below the minimum wage and categorised 'poor' by the
Government itself. Now A.CREWE has made citizen D. in debt to the HMRC for
that £1,745.01 and intends to claw it back. Citizen D. cannot do a back
claim for JSA or Universal credit, he takes a huge loss and is now in debt due
to this A.CREWE who realise he lived on only £15.36 most of the time...and being
on tax credits at the time he couldn't insure himself against this move and sign
on, because he's only allowed one benefit and he chose the lower to minimise his
claim from the taxpayer. No doubt the Conservative Government or May, and
not forgetting the evil A,CREWE won't be in the same boat, he or she simply
moves onto another tax credit claimer feeling victorious in a warped and
perverted way....an utterly corrupt individual.

So beware all tax credit claimers, there are
probably more cases of this, and its probably not the first time A.CREWE has
been on a 'wrecking mission' for his or her paymasters.

'THE CONTINUED CORRUPTION IN THE HMRC AND DWP'
-- Individuals like Meakin and Crewe are not rare in the tax office, they are
simply part of the wider fabric called 'the staff' they are indoctrinated into
corruption by the policies issued by The Commissioners and politicians that hide
behind the schemes to deprive the public out of everything they can, and get the
law to back up this by using crafty conniving solicitors to ruthlessly harass
and alter the laws meaning to represent their paymasters views. If you've
already seen and read the above item and the HMRC freedom of information fiasco,
you'll not be surprised to hear that we looked at a similar thing on the DWP and
they were just as evasive. A man asked about help with fares and travel
involved with seeking a job, and quite rightly pointed out that these were extra
costs beyond the so-called JSA which says' JSA is the amount you need to live
on' and there's no clarification that this should also include extra costs borne
by the claimant, who may end up with much less to live on. The Freedom of
Information reply dodged the issue several times by saying the words they often
credit the allowance to, isn't exact, and it is up to the jobseeker to see that
they attend any interviews with no mention of compensation, saying that the
Jobcentre has a small pot of cash that is carefully managed to help 'in some
cases' -- yet another get out, in other words corruptly interpreting the law to
suit what they want, and to make sure they are not caught out, and this is
typical of Tax staff who in the fiasco article also confused the applicant and
avoided any direct question with a planned answer to deceive and mislead the
claimant, whilst at the same time covering their backs.....this is a very dark
and devious corruption that these departments play in order to save money, deter
claimants, and to control claimants with threats of a financial and penalty
situation.

CORRUPTION MEANS 'To Wilfully deprive or
Disadvantage' someone to the advantage of another/to be morally
depraved....which the DWP spokesperson was doing and so were Meakin and Crewe.
Their intentions were to weed out claimants and end their claims, and in the
case of the Inland Revenue, disadvantage them and drive them into debt, showing
no moral compass, compassion or mercy, and to wilfully execute this as soon as
possible.

'WOMAN'S ESTATE CHALLENGES HMRC AND WINS'
-- Good news here for the taxpayer, An Upper Tribunal rejected an appeal made by
the HMRC when it pursued a deceased's money. The case involved a woman who
was terminally ill. The HMRC treated a transfer deal only entered into
just a matter of weeks before her death, as a 'chargeable lifetime transfer' and
put in a claim for inheritance tax. The Court ruled that and IHT advantage
gained from the transfer was 'not intended to confer gratuitous benefit' and
therefore HMRC's appeal was rejected. The Deceased woman was Mrs Staveley
(January 25th 2017)

NB: The above case just shows you the
motivation outstrips anything else -- a means to their end, the tax man has no
principles!

'HMRC SPIES -- GOVERNMENT APPROVED' --
The Government and HMRC are but one, a nicely tight knitted band of robbers in
one guise or another -- that's why they get even more power to snoop and defile
the moral codes that are already fractured by society. A report says HMRC
officers monitor E-Bay, Amazon and much more as they hire data anylists in their
quest to suck out the cash from taxpayers. Auction sites, shops etc, can
be forced to hand over your details. The only Data Law that exists with
the HMRC, is their own, and accessing info is strictly discouraged and denied in
99 percent of cases, and that's to protect the staff and the dirty deals they
engage in.

GAGGING ORDERS IMPOSED ON EX-HMRC FIRED
WORKERS' -- As we set about finding out who these dismissed workers were
that were fired for misconduct etc, one of these guys contacted us through our
corruptionseeker e-mails account. Before we could get anywhere he asked us
not to reveal his name for fear of reprisals from HMRC, particularly the
Commissioners he said. Reluctant as we are we did the deal so that you can
now know why there isn't a huge story file, it's prevented by the HMRC and their
Lawyers. He sent us a copy of his termination letter which proved interesting
more by what it failed to say or disclose. They mentioned 'reports'
department heads and managers besides how the investigation into their offence
was carried out before coming to the final paragraph and that's the bit that
sounded more like a threat! Obviously from their Legal Department, it said
they were not allowed to disclose the contents which it pointed out was
'confidential' and they were not to discuss or communicate the contents of the
letter with anyone else, repeat, copy etc, as this could result in further
action against them of legal proceedings....a little bit like the Official
Secrets Act, which they meant it to sound like.

So, now we know why those 0riginal 610 can't
be found on the Internet, but we're going to try and find some of them.

' HMRC Tax Officer stole £160,000'

HMRC Employee RUTH KEVAN was a manager at The
Tax Office in Southend, Essex, and a much praised member of staff. But
this all faded when she appeared at Basildon Crown Court facing theft charges.
She apparently conned fellow staff members to invest money into a savings club
run by Kevan, which was being run like a Ponzi-style Scam. It was said she
took around £160,000 and spent it on a luxury lifestyle....apparently her
husband, who also worked at the Tax Office alongside her, said he knew nothing
of what she had been doing! She was jailed for two and a half years.
(6/11/2013)

MISCALCULATIONS OF HMRC REVEALED IN LEAKED
MEMO -- The Taxman found things rather awkward when it was revealed that a
blunder by staff sent out thousands of tax statements that were in fact,
incorrect. The report went onto say that around five million UK workers
have been discovered to have underpaid or overpaid through the PAYE system.
The leaked memo said they were 'sorry' about the incorrect calculations and that
they were investigating these cases, Stuart Philips who runs a Financial
Advice Firm said 'This clearly calls into question their ability to do accurate
assessments in the real time system.' (9/10/2014)

HMRC NOT THE PLACE YOU THINK IT IS? ---
We grabbed this from a forum we happened upon, and took out some tasty bits for
this page, and we're going to begin with one that certainly sounds genuine, and
casts doubts on a lot of the others.

'Most reviews on this forum are like CV
fillers!'

'HMRC not the best place to work due to the
inexperience of all managers, especially HEO's who would not advise applicants'

'You tend to report to someone who has no
knowledge of tax Law and less in people.'

'You're judged on numbers, not knowledge,
compassion or understanding.'

'You'll get bored of ignoring customers!'

'Its a depressing atmosphere and repetitive
work'

'Bullying managers, who are covert and
divisive!'

'They care more about the pennies than the
people who help run the place. and they care more about 'stats' than the
welfare of claimants.'

So there you are, we left it at that point
because some of the praises looked artificial and placed on the forum
deliberately.

HMRC DATA BLUNDER LEADS TO LOWER PENSIONS ---
This recent report says around 4 million ordinary workers about to retire on a
new flat rate pension could get the wrong amount because of inaccurate records.
It says that early information dating back to 1978 is riddled with errors and
mistakes which could affect pensions. The Treasury have been told that
data being used to calculate the £155 a week pension is unreliable. The
HMRC made no comment other than the matter is of urgent concern and is being
looked into.

It emerged in a Whitehall paper that tax
workers were involved in many tax blunders which resulted in the HMRC Officials
chasing down their colleagues to get overpayments back. This 'untouched'
article from The Mail Online, said that 245 HMRC employees were overpaid more
than £1,000 last year as a result of 'errors' in the Payroll Department.
In 2015 to 2016, salary blunders added up to £1.4 million! an average of £5,000
extra for each staff member. (Published 15th Feb 2017)

'RAIL WORKER RECEIVES TAX DEMAND FOR £14
TRILLION?' -- A man from Bristol who works on the railways was shocked to
receive a tax bill from the HMRC demanding a payment of £14 trillion pounds.
Giles Hembrough opened the ominous brown envelope and was completely stunned by
what he saw. The HMRC had changed his tax code prior to this, and the bill
said 'they would let him know if this amount is right?' The tax office
blamed it on a computer error saying that these bills are 'generated' by recent
activity on record, but it apparently looks as if someone fell asleep on the
keyboard!'

FORMER 'CONCENTRIX' WORKER SAYS HMRC WAS AT
FAULT, NOT CONCENTRIX -- At last, a rebuttle, as a recently dismissed tax
worker who fell victim of the cancelled contract by HMRC, said 'It was HMRC poor
systems to blame. 'After we closed off cases, it just sits there in a sort of
limbo stage, waiting for HMRC to process it' she said. 'There were massive
delays and we took the blame, well, it was pushed onto us. Everything was
supposed to run right, but it was at the HMRC end that it failed, but as they
were paying the £75 million bill, we were used to cover their errors.'
(October 3rd 2016)

THE MASSIVE HMRC LIE -- HMRC make the false
statement of 'If your payments have gone down' they will help. this is a flight
of fancy and cannot be supported by this organisation. It pretends that
you the claimant, cannot meet your essential living expenses because your
payments have gone down, they laughably ask you to contact them 'as we may be
able to make extra payments'. These are greatly exaggerated and mostly a
lie perpetrated by HMRC staff. Having looked at this closely, it becomes
obvious that they cannot explain what essential needs are, and who qualifies for
it...and that is no one. They more or less say that once your benefit has
been fixed that's all you are allowed to by law, their law, so any extra is not
an entitlement and they turn most people asking this, away and point them to the
DWP and other benefits they're not likely to get. Tax credits are fixed at
certain rates which are rigorously controlled, there is no room to offer extra
help, all the staff know it, and dangle this bit of fiction in front of people
to con them. 'may be able' isn't something that can be relied upon.
Its not enforceable or policy of the Inland Revenue, its a piece of propaganda
aimed to deceive the public.

'Revelations of a CORRUPT HMRC Culture'

This next item was an actual government
appraisal of HMRC and The Committees worries over their non compliance in many
areas.

REPORT OF SESSION 2010 - 2012 -- THE COMMITTEE
OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.

'Inland Revenue try to avoid scrutiny and
consistently fail to give straight answers to any questions regarding their
operations.'

Disturbing Fact: There is a provision that
allows The Commissioners to authorise disclosure of confidential taxpayers
details' (and this goes unchecked most of the time)

'The HMRC withhold details from Parliament
which reduces transparency and makes it impossible for Parliament to hold The
Commissioners to account?'

'There is the Departments failure to comply
with its own processes.'

'They often take no responsibility for serious
errors.'

'They make many spurious arguments in front of
the tribunal'

'They can withhold repayments (refunds) which
cause delay, and evidence shows that the HMRC go way beyond the Statute and what
their guidelines allow!'

'Any challenge of a decision or repayment must
trigger an enquiry, and this is often overlooked by HMRC officers.'

'They apply restrictive conditions designed to
delay or deny a claimant -- the subjectivity is as follows -- 'unconscionable'
'unprincipled' and 'indefensible' and many more such terms (invented by their
crafty Lawyers)

The Public Accounts Committee were quick to
point out this -- 'We saw very little evidence of personal accountability within
the Department'

There was more, but the above facts give the
game away.

'NO PROTECTION FROM THE HMRC ON DATA'
--- The only secret and safe data? to be not seen by the majority of taxpayers
is with the HMRC. Even their Freedom of Information answers are evasive
and corruptly arrogant. As to Claimants and Taxpayers, their data is an
'open market' to be picked on and shared by 60 other countries. They
operate a program called 'CONNECT' which cost the taxpayer £80 million.
Its function and purpose is to find out everything about you, personal info,
commercial info, and your life to a very invasive degree. They even scour
sites like Facebook, Amazon and E-bay to see if they can get you. Anything
odd or vaguely connecting to a rumour is flagged up, and an invisible
investigation is prompted. And if it leads to a wrong assumption and
damages, the Lawyers for HMRC automatically place legal hurdles and stonewalling
to hinder and destroy the claimants chances of compensation.

HMRC TAX CREDIT DETECTIVES POUNCE ON THOUSANDS
OF PEOPLE' - An article by Simon Read tells you how it is with the HMRC.....and
their motto is -- 'You're guilty until proven innocent' And our
research here shows that to be so. He goes on to say that tens of
thousands of people have been targeted with bullying letters from HMRC. A
despicable case in point is -- One woman who received just £15 a week in tax
credits was threatened, and asked to prove that she was innocent of the
allegation they made. They told her that her tax credits would be stopped
within 30 days. She had to send in bank statements, rental agreements, gas
bills, and numerous other things of a confidential nature. We did an
experiment here, and got someone to ask a tax officer whether they were willing
to show such items, this led to answer that said all data of HMRC staff was
confidential and not available under the law? So as we can see it,
there's one law for them, and another for the public.

'HACKER SAYS HE CAN GET INTO ANY HMRC FILES'
-- and just to finish this section, we came across a statement by a hacker, and
this is what he says. 'All that I need to do is find a Customs Official to
compromise (and that's not difficult), and I will have access to basic tax
records. With an Official in The Revenue Commissioners, HMRC, I can
acess bank account details held by offices, addresses, assets, even investment
details all for the price of a 'burner phone' I don't even need to know
how to turn on the computer, and restricted databases are quite easy really!

'HMRC Suppress 'Damages' Reporting'

The current tax credit hardship processes are
not well publicised, and very little information is provided about when someone
might qualify under the Hardship Provisions. The HMRC are quite well aware
of this and instead of making an effort to ease stress and breakdowns caused,
the Commissioners back a policy of 'Suppression' so that they can keep it out of
the public arena and Media, so that they are not briefed on these awful actions
and the results, and there are many cases, but not often picked up by the casual
person on the street. This obviously suits the Inland Revenue and as far
as we can see they don't really care. We tried to find some, but drew a
blank, which certainly shows how effective the HMRC are in covering up a
scandal.

HMRC CHIEF FORCED TO APOLOGISE FOR BLUNDER'
--- Top Civil Servant and boss of HMRC, David Hartnett, kept his arrogant stance
until the last moment as the pressure mounted in the Government and Public gaze.
This was the man who said 'I'm not sure I see a need to apologise over blunders
that left 1.4 million people facing demands for an average of £1,428 extra tax'
on a radio 4 interview. However, on reflection he issued one and the HMRC
tried to make light of it as usual.

HMRC WRONGLY SEND OUT WRONGLY SENT PENALTY
NOTICES TO 12,000 PEOPLE. -- Busy tax officials sent out some 12,000
penalty notices for non-filing of tax returns, warning them of daily fines
amounting to £10 a day. It turned out these were incorrect and were sent
out in 'error' This 'error' followed an earlier error when the
HMRC sent out around a million letters containing potentially confusing
information about child tax credits! Not bad for a department
that claims it doesn't do mistakes? (April 2012)

THE FLAWED HMRC TAX CREDIT APPEALS -- You are
led to believe that you can dispute an overpayment decision because it wasn't
your fault, and in many cases the client isn't aware of an impending catastrophe
about to arrive by a vindictive tax officer out to screw up people's lives.
But often or not, they get a kick out of doing this -- and it's the 'Powerkick',
a sense of being God and one without morals. The .Gov site almost destroys
the notion of fairplay, as it openly says that FEWER THAN 1 IN 10 TAX CREDIT
DISPUTES ARE SUCCESSFUL, and the criteria necessary is that you've got to
prove they made 'a mistake' and as we see from these arrogant civil
servants, they only have 'errors' and no mistakes!

'HMRC Civil Servant gets £19,000 to find new job,
and is re-employed on £50,000 a month!'

Yes, and this one refused to work for anything
less? HMRC civil servant DEEPAK SINGH who quit his tax post because he was
only earning £160,000, walked back into the HMRC just weeks after quitting
to be re-employed for £600,000 a year, and this was all over his lack of
promotion within the department? Apparently, a disgusted MP wrote to The
Chief Secretary to the Treasury demanding an investigation. The scandal
emerged as Chief of HMRC Dame Strathie was being quizzed by The Commons Public
Accounts Committee. (13th October 2010)

PS. No investigation took place and HMRC
'blagged' its way out of the situation.

'HMRC MAN ON ADULTERY WEBSITE' --- Yes,
we've found it. so here's the story you may not be aware of. The article
says that civil servants used official Government websites to register profiles
and explicit sexual fantasies on an Adultery website. Some of these
officials were identified as belonging to The Inland Revenue and Ministry of
Justice, who used their 'secure' accounts on a website for those seeking illicit
affairs, One Senior HMRC official described himself as 'a great dad' before
specifying that he wanted to meet a 'curvy raven haired MILF' its translation
being a sleazy Internet Acronym. They used the Government Secure Intranet
(GSI) which is intended to let civil servants send confidential and restricted
information securely. All this came to light when hackers broke into the site
and released details of the users. Interestingly The Home Office gave this
statement - ' The Civil Service Code outlines the values and standards of
behaviour expected of all civil servants' --- which of course is shattered
already and means very little, if nothing!

'Individuals Can sue the HMRC says the Court of
Appeal'

To get compensation from The Inland Revenue
was made easier by the Court of Appeal who said the citizen can sue the HMRC for
damages in certain circumstances? This came about because of The
Neil Martin Case in 2007 (EWCA Civ 1041) when he took on the Commissioners for
the HMRC. Neil Martin was a builder who suffered at the hands of the
taxman severely due to a stream of so called 'errors' made by them which
resulted in heavy losses to his business. One claim he made, weighted
heavily in the HMRC favour under the Code of Practice floundered and followed by
an appeal, was rejected by guess who? The Revenue Adjudicator! in 2000.
His last step was to the Ombudsman whose own 'untainted' investigation, led to
'a striking and important letter' from the Deputy Chairman of The Inland Revenue
that confirmed that these numerous errors and delays fell into the
classification of 'Persistent errors' and Mr Martin's Common Law argument was
agreed upon unanimously by the court.

'THE STRANGE RELATIONSHIP OF IAN BARLOW (HMRC)
AND THE CANDY BROTHERS?' -- Barlow, who became the Head of HMRC came under the
scrutiny and interest of PRIVATE EYE, and questions arose over whether Ian
Barlow, having been the Head of an Accounting firm KVMG's tax practise of
running off-shore tax avoidance schemes until 2001, and then the firm's Senior
UK partner until leaving and taking up the Candy Directorship! PRIVATE EYE
said they'd seen evidence that showed Barlow acted as an Advisor to the
billionaire Candy Brothers. PRIVATE EYE put several questions to HMRC, but
they said Mr Barlow was unable to answer the questions as he was 'on leave'....
probably off-shore?

HMRC IN DISPUTE WITH MANY FIRMS OVER TAX --
The taxman may be looking at their own bill (taxpayers bill) of £43 billion
pounds, the cost of repaying firms who say they have been paying too much tax.
This figure was released in their latest annual accounts (Aug 2015) as the HMRC
are locked in a battle of multi-million law cases with dozens of Corporations
who believe they are owed refunds. Some of these are Littlewoods the
catalogue people, the Prudential, British American Tobacco etc.

'MAN PLANS TO FIGHT HMRC OVER TAX CODES' --
Keith Watkins, now 70, said he received five separate letters in one day, all
from the HMRC demanding money to cover 'underpaid tax'. He said he
couldn't see or understand how these adjustments are calculated, and that goes
for these tax codes, and that makes it very difficult for me to check if they're
right! Mr Watkins is worried that his latest codes may be wrong too.
'I will definitely be challenging the demand for payment, as it is not fair to
land pensioners with unexpected bills of this nature!'

'The Inland Revenue Compensation Saga'

Claiming costs? from HMRC.......From
what we've gathered, it's an absolute nightmare according to a businessman who
has spent hours listening to recorded messages all about how much information is
available on the HMRC website, and then you get disconnected afre about three
minutes or so. And he has been waiting for tax codes because the HMRC were
taking weeks to sort the matter out. He was advised to lodge a series of
complaints, quantify the cost of the financial loss he's incurred, and then make
the claim based on solid agreement with them that HMRC was faulty in its service
delivery. However, before you go this far, you will be passed from
pillar to post through a whole series of 'customer service' officers,
departments, who have no understanding whatsoever of tax or the HMRC systems,
and are chiefly skilled in fobbing you off!

'UN-NAMED HMRC MANAGER ON TAXPAYER FUNDED
CREDIT CARD SPREE' -- We happened on this because it was part of an IPCC
report, and they usually tackle police situations and misconduct. The
report said they had been passed this case from the HMRC, and it concerned a Tax
Staff Manager, a woman who has now been dismissed. She was said to have
spent around £10,000 using HMRC Corporate Credit Cards. She made several
withdrawals not only on one card, but others used by her team. She
apparently denied any wrongdoing initially, and the case was passed to the CPS
who did not pursue any criminal charges? (22/8/2012)

'HMRC HIT STUDENT WITH A BILL THAT WASN'T HIS
RESPONSIBILITY' --- Amidst the HMRC's attempt to crush all opposition to
their self awarded powers, they began their evil by tripling the penalties for
late payment and inaccuracies! Student Jack Dyson filled in his own
personal self-assessment return, but reportedly failed to submit a 'joint'
return with a fellow student who he'd set up a business with. Although
Jack Dyson owed little or no tax, he received an automatic 'late-filing' penalty
of £1,300, and he was not permitted to appeal against it due to a 'loophole' in
other words, ' a denial of rights under the Inland Revenue Law?
(27/4/2015)

'TAXMAN'S AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR SHOWS NO HALT
IN SIGHT' -- Sanctioned and condoned by the 2013/14 new regulations, the
Taxman's target has been pointed in the direction of childminders. In
their Government backed 'state of hate' the HMRC hounds are agressively cracking
down on Tax Credit claimants such as the financial affairs of childminders.
They have sent out 1000's of letters demanding that they provide up-to-date
accounts and other evidence that they work. In DWP mode, both agencies
have launched an attack on the people in order to lessen the benefits and drive
out the claimants so that only the top people in Society have a say and control
the power. They are demanding details of what is done in the working
hours, adverts placed, social media activity and names and addresses of
customers. The fact they cause fear, issue threats, bully and blackmail
claimants is of no interest, and this is supposed to be a criminal act, but that
isn't applicable to HMRC OR DWP, they have complete immunity granted by the
State and its Lawyers. One can actually see their game, and that is
to make people afraid to claim, because they can't figure out where they stand,
and the power of the HMRC is able to come down on them at the slightest mistake
and wreak massive damage....this is what the HMRC and DWP doing, and it's a
government backed scheme. (20/12'2017)

'HMRC Taxman is caught in lewd act on the train'

INLAND REVENUE CIVIL SERVANT WILLIAM PATTERSON
obviously thought as he did at work, that he was immune from those common laws
and his Lawyer pleaded with the Court to have him spared due to his employment
status at the HMRC. The act which was rather pathetic and of course
indecent, was caught on the train's CCTV. The Inland Revenue taxman
Patterson, was charged with a breach of the peace and sexual aggravation when he
appeared before the SHERIFF'S COURT at Greenock. It was said that
Patterson worked at the Glasgow Inland Revenue Office. (21/3/2015)

'SHORT-CHANGED BY HMRC STAFF' - Have you ever
tried claiming back cost incurred? Well, several of you have, especially
over items like account books that you've been ordered to send in. Quite a
few people say they've lost out by up to £6 in postage fees and the tax office
just ignores this. Some say they have written several times and invoiced
the Inland Revenue who don't see it as their problem, but on the other hand, if
its costs they incurred they chase you all the way. They don't actually
care whether this extra finance causes you a problem and ignore the issue
completely. Staff have even told the claimant it's their duty to
co-operate with a request and that the costs should be borne by the sender.
Having looked at this we find their mindset rather at odds with common decency
and business sense...if someone requests a service off you and you fulfil that
at a cost, that makes it a transaction which should be paid by the recipient of
the item they have sent for, after all, any goods sent out on approval etc, the
postage is always picked up by the one asking for that service...but not the
HMRC.

'HMRC IN SHADY OFF-SHORE DEAL' -- Not
really surprising, In 2001 ALISTAIR DARLING, Chancellor at the time,
authorised a deal by selling off 600 buildings of the HMRC, in other words -
State Assets. The Inland Revenue said it had signed a Private Finance
Initiative (PFI) deal with UK registered Mapeley Ltd, transferring 'ownership
and management' of the entire estate. But this was not strictly the truth.
HMRC had sold the properties to a Bermuda based 'sister company' Mapeley Steps
Ltd for £220 million, while paying rent to a UK company called Mapeley Steps
Contractors Ltd. The former off-shored company with huge profits posted
losses to HMRC, and therefore paid no taxes to the Treasury, which in itself is
a scandal. When asked about this transaction and what had been going on,
HMRC stated that their 'misleading' Press release was simply a mistake?
(24/5/2016)

'The Scandal HMRC would rather forget about'

This little item is labelled 'A CAN OF HMRC
WORMS' by its author who seems very confident of his facts. He points to a
deal the HMRC used to broker called the 'CONTRACTOR SCHEME' which went on
nicely for a period of almost eleven years without fuss. Apparently the
Inland Revenue allowed these schemes to exist, to be promoted, to operate,
without batting an eye! The article mentions APN's and the official IR35
legislation. It points at a deal that the HMRC turned a blind eye to and
rarely asked questions about, so long as it remained off the radar. For
more on this, the full details and story are at
https://www.dotas-scandal.org/a-can-of-worms/

'HMRC HUMILIATION OVER WHISTLEBLOWER'S E-MAIL'
-- This was an e-mail lost for 7 years. Investigators in the Media said
that an e-mail emerged 7 years after a whistleblower had offered the HMRC
evidence of a tax avoidance scandal involving HSBC's Swiss Subsidiary involving
British account holders in 2008. But HMRC did nothing about it. The
Head of HMRC at the time was Lin Homer, and she told MP's that she had no
knowledge of the e-mail? (13/2/2015)

'THE TAX SCANDAL HMRC COULDN'T GET AT OR
ACCESS' --- Former Chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee
Margaret Hodge said she didn't have much confidence in HMRC's appetite for
really defending the taxpayers interests. She said that after quoting the
time HMRC came under fire for its response to tax evasion by customers of the
HSBC's Swiss Bank Saga. This time it's THE PANAMA PAPERS and the
Panamanian Law Firm of MOSSACK FONSECA. HMRC are having to seek help from
investigative journalists who managed to grab 11.5 million leaked documents
showing tax deals and evasion on a large scale involving British Companies and
individuals. (5/4/2016)

'5 Years Jail for HMRC Employee'

CIVIL SERVANT SUSANNE GREEN worked in the
'electronic payments team' at the Inland Revenue's Essex Office. She was
hired to identify 'unallocated VAT payments' but she fraudulently paid them
elsewhere. Investigators found that she was working with others, a 'six
man team' as it was described in court. She actually entered a 'not guilty
plea' when she was on trial at Southbank Crown Court, but this was rejected and
she was jailed for five years It was said that the scam involved
£2.4million, one of the biggest fraud cases. (11/12/ 2017)

'A SMACK IN THE FACE FOR CREDIT CARD USERS AS
HMRC WON'T ACCEPT THEM -- Yes, it's another move by the Inland Revenue and
supported by the Conservative Government. They have banned payments on tax
bills to be paid by credit cards, despite persuading all the country to use
cards in shops and online for everything. The HMRC made a statement saying
' New rules mean that we can no longer pass on what our bank charges for
processing a credit card payment. It woud be unfair to expect taxpayers to
pick up this cost..... which means they have been doing all along, and as 'being
unfair' how fair is it to block FOI's and information on payouts and cases they
made to employees they fired? Think about that before you get fooled into
thinking they serve the country for you! (30/12/2017)

'HMRC
DEPARTMENT RESPONSIBLE FOR HALF OF STAFF FRAUD IN GOVERNMENT'

Deception and swindling by staff at HM Revenue
and Customs are now understood to be responsible for more than half of the
recorded fraud by value committed across all government departments.
Official records in 2008 revealed that in once case, 14 members of HMRC staff
were investigated for financial fraud totalling £2.3 million in March 2008.
Fraud by Customs staff had increased also, 10 members of staff were investigated
over a £1.7 million fraud. They were all found guilty of a criminal
offence and sacked. About £3million to £6million
pounds worth of recorded fraud was committed by government employees across 28
departments. (the figures have gone up in the last ten years a
survey says)

'Tax Credits Compliance Officer in £34,000 Fraud'

HMRC BENEFITS AND TAX CREDITS COMPLIANCE
OFFICER LAURA SOUTHERN was described in court as 'being convicted of the very
crime she was paid to investigate and deter' The Civil Servant from
Clonmore Park, Lisburn, checked fraudulent claims whilst at the same time
fraudulently claiming she was a single parent for which she received tax credits
to the value of £34,209 between the years of 2012 and 2017. At
Craigavon Crown Court she was given a suspended 15 month prison sentence after
pleading guilty to fraud. (14/12/2017)

'WORRIED TAX WORKER CONTACTS THIS SITE ABOUT
WHAT'S GOING ON' -- We shall call him John as he doesn't wish to be
labelled as a whistleblower in the tax department where he works. He said
he's seen some things going on that look decidedly unlawful and been told to
ignore certain activities. He says that some of the others go along with
it because they fear they might be booted out, but he feels they are only adding
to the problem and not being fair to the claimants who are reliant on their tax
credit awards. 'They're frightened enough without some of the staff using
them as a game to get their kicks' he says and going up to management can be
risky as one cannot trust that they too are involved or as he noticed,
complacent about claimants anyway. He tells us that two he knows quite
well alter things on documents and lose vital info deliberately to put the
claimant at risk. He asked us what should he do? so, we've told him
to log things he sees, get copies of papers that he can which look suspicious,
and we will do the rest. So any of you in the same dilemma, go to corruptionseeker@hotmail.com

'Tax Officer rips off the Taxpayer by £56,000'

TAX OFFICER FRANCES CYNTHIA COLE of the HMRC,
ripped off the taxpayer by £56,000 in a Tax Credit Fraud. She was
sentenced at the Isleworth Crown Court to one year in jail. Cole from West
London was employed by the Inland Revenue as an Administration Officer in the
Tax Credit Compliance Department. It was said in court that she
deliberately abused her position and made fraudulent claims in order to receive
the tax credit payments over a long period of time. (19/8/2013)

'THE INLAND REVENUE 'SELF-ASSESSMENT' SCAM'
-- This move by The Government and its partner in crime, the HMRC, was in fact
one of the most blatant schemes to rob the public legally, and that's what they
did. They placed all the responsibility on the taxpayer not only in the
filling and being warned about honesty and correctiveness , but the filing of
the form too in regard to time limits. Coming up with the idea of fines
must have been the Treasury's idea along with the Revenue department, as the
fines system not only allowed them to just collect extra money but perversely
alter things so that they could accuse a person of other 'crimes' that rendered
the taxman bigger fines. Current info suggests that it's at least £100 a
time to miss the deadline, and reports show us that 1 in 10 people around the
country miss this deadline and that means millions extra for the HMRC, and
that's not tax, that is pure 'greed' by a government that wants to take as much
as it can and give very little back to the people. These are 'automatic'
fines, people doing their tax return on line face up to an hour on completing
it, and they are warned to check this thoroughly. The amount of paperwork
needed is quite staggering, it includes P45 income, possibly a P60, and maybe a
P11D. You must declare any income from any investments and property,
pension contributions, and that's just the beginning. You must state your
assets, any capital gains, and you must not leave anything out! You could
go to an accountant and this in 2017 costs around £200 for completing a
'straight-forward simple tax return'....and their costs may not be able to be
claimed for, so beware on that...the Inland Revenue are not too keen on
deductable income and have pulled many items once claimed for out of the bag.
This robbery is unique, in that a Parliament has made it legal.....and they have
a bunch of civil servants at your cost pursuing you for every penny they can!

'HMRC IN PLOT TO SHARE PRIVATE DATA ON EVERY
PERSON IN UK --- This piece seems to have its origins in Whitehall, so here it
is. It says in the report that departments such as the HMRC will be able
to pass on private data of millions to private firms, town halls, quangos etc,
under new powers mentioned in the Queens Speech. Collections of bulk data
will now be available to who they decide. These measures are mentioned in
the Digital Economy Bill which deals with Broadband across Britain, the
ministers will put in new law allowing other bodies to share the mass of
confidential public data.

'HMRC refuse to disclose cost of 5 year case'

Amazingly, the Inland Revenue pride themselves
on knowing 'exactly' how much you owe them in tax, and they are keen to send you
the bill as soon as possible, and these include fines. They also insist on
honesty and transparency from the taxpayer when it comes to tax returns, and
they come down heavily on those who don't account for every penny they earned or
received. Yet, when questioned about a five year case against 'Rangers'
they refuse to disclose that cost, and were steadfastly keeping to the reply 'It
would cost too much to find out the costs in this particular case!' This
is how the fobbed off journalists seeking to know how much the taxpayer had
paid....but that's accountability for you, and transparency - nil!

'TWO MILLION PEOPLE FACE TAX DEMANDS FROM HMRC'
- A report says that the Inland Revenue will be billing around two million
people for £800 million for underpaying in the last financial year. The
HMRC will be chasing those who did not pay enough tax and said the average
shortfall will be around £400 each. This means that these people will be
paying an extra £33 a month to catch up. They said that they had paid out
£4.32 million in overpayments in 2015 and 2016, and that they will be pursuing
these.

'THE UNUSUAL CASE OF MR WILLIAMS AND HIS TAX
APPEAL' -- This happened in 2011, and we were lucky to spot this, but being the
hound dogs we are, here it is - 'Although Mr Williams had his appeal
rejected, which surprised him....in the envelope telling him of the decision to
disallow his appeal, there was an 'internal memo' enclosed, one that was not
meant for him to see. The HMRC said it was mistakenly enclosed and uttered
that they were sorry that he saw it. The internal note was from a
technical advisor to the tax officer who was dealing with Mr William's case and
appeal. And this told a very different story, which said - 'Although we
made errors, he should (Mr Williams, the Taxpayer) have picked up on them.
You will have to write to him and apologise for the poor quality of service he
has received, but unfortunately he has to pay the charges!'

NB: So as you can see from the above, if
they make any errors, you the taxpayer must pay for their mistakes, not bad eh?

'HMRC in court battle ordered to pay £500 by Tax
Adjudicator'

BETH PORTER SUED THE INLAND REVENUE because
she lost half of her state pension due to the negligence of the HMRC, who
claimed they could not find 15 previous years of National Insurance
contributions. The Former Actress of film and TV now 72, has fought a 13
year battle with the department for Work and Pensions, claiming they are
incompetent. She said 'I've experienced rude staff, my letters being
ignored and promises of phone calls that never happened, and they also lost
documents or claimed them to be so' After getting nowhere and feeling very
frustrated with the affair, she lodged a formal complaint with the Tax
Adjudicator, and won a £500 payout against HMRC, one of the highest awards for
anyone suffering at the hands of the tax man. Despite this, HMRC didn't
budge on their decision to pay her half of her pension saying certain records
were no longer available, because certain data from the 70's were deleted.
The case has now gone onto the appeal stage. (15/5/2015)

'HMRC WRONG SAYS JUDGE IN PAYMENT'S CASE' ---
The Inland Revenue, supported by PM David Cameron, hoped they could force
through legislation to claw back benefit payments sent oversees by UK unemployed
migrant parents getting £20 per week payments for child allowance. But the
Judge dismissed HMRC's appeal and ruled that 'even Europeans living in Britain
who are jobless and claiming, can receive the £20 allowance payment for children
living overseas.' Further disclosures revealed that in another Tribunal
case, Judge Edward Jacobs in the Upper Tribunal ruled it 'wrong to try to claw
back child benefits from unemployed migrant parents.' The HMRC
later admitted they'd relied on outdated E.U.Law for their appeal?

'THE TAXMAN LOSES IN ANOTHER COURT CHALLENGE'
-- This was the NOVASOFT CASE- versus the HMRC. The taxpayer's appeal case
was successful with the Commissioners against the HMRC. The Tribunal
decided that this was a case of 'self-employment' and being so, the
I.R.35 legislation did not apply in this case. In reaching its verdict,
the Tribunal cited the 'Hall v Lorimer' case in that it is necessary to 'paint a
picture from the accumulation of detail.' The I.R.35 relates to
intermediary companies -- it is said that its intention, though complex, is to
catch disguised employees falsely trading through their limited companies to
reduce their tax. But it has on occasions unfairly treated genuine
self-employed people, as it did in this case.'
(15/5/2010)

'20,000 Tribunal cases against the HMRC pending'

A Report shows that the tax man is involved in
20,000 tribunal cases pending, and there could be many more as a result of a
successful businessman, Sir Terry Leahy who has urged people who have had
concerns and issues with the new tax legislation, should take on the HMRC
legally and change the law. Saying that a Tribunal hearing would make a
good start to do this instead of letting the taxman have his way. This has
now led to the Inland Revenue admitting that they already have 20,000 tribunal
cases pending and it could take up to 38 years to go through all of them, they
also said it could cost them billions in tax.
(14/1/2018)

'HMRC IN PITIFUL COMPENSATION SCANDAL'
-- One hears of benefitting from someone else's downfall, and recent news of £14
being paid out to 1,271 victims of the 'Concentrix Situation' is certainly what
HMRC are good at. The recent report into the firm Concentrix has revealed
that the £75 million pound contracted company hired by the Inland Revenue
terminated or adjusted 108,000 cases of claimants tax credits, of which a third
were overturned at appeal. Taking advantage of the fact they had to
terminate the deal, HMRC have only paid out £18,035 in compensation to 1,271
people, and what is more, there is news that because the deal was terminated
before it ended, Concentrix walked away with £32 million of taxpayers money.
The findings against Concentrix reveals that 87 percent of cases went to appeal
because they did real harm and caused damage to people's lives. Both the
Concentrix and Carillion episodes have shown that the bosses walked away with a
decent payoff and bonus deal. In 2016 Concentrix was accused of 'a brutal
and disrespectful approach'.....and in the case of these so called HMRC
'compensation packages of £14' they should be added to this list of brutal
and disrespectful monsters that bow to the paymasters the Tory Party.
(Jan 2018)

'150 LAPTOP PC's LOST BY INLAND REVENUE STAFF'
-- This report dated November 2011, says that over a five year period, civil
servants at the HMRC could not account for 150 missing laptop computers.
It was said that they were all disk encrypted. And yet again the HMRC
would not comment on the matter of these taxpayer funded pc's and apparently, no
disciplinary action has been taken against the staff involved, so there's no
surprise there!

'MP and Law Centre hit out at the HMRC'

The suffering of Tax Credit claimants became
such an issue to The Hackney Law Centre and Meg Hillier MP and Chairman of The
Public Accounts Committee, that they spoke out saying that the 'outsourcing to
Concentrix' was a venture 'with appalling human consequences!' Meg
Hillier, also the MP for Hackney, added, 'We will be examining the NAO's
findings closely and holding Senior Officials from HMRC and Concentrix to
account on the issues highlighted when we take evidence from them in January.'
In Mid-December 2016, the HMRC had paid out compensation of around £87,000to
claimants who suffered worry and distress. (Jan 2017)

'HMRC ignore Data Law because they can!'

Not surprisingly, this report only goes to
show that they abuse and misuse power regularly because they believe they are
immune from any interference or court (and finding a court that has actually
done them for an offence is rare). In the years they have rectified any
loopholes in their powers by requesting Parliament to 'rubber stamp' changes
which have gone through Parliament unopposed, and therefore not known about in
the general public. The most recent outrage is the tax helpline
recording calls without permission. The report says that they have
collected and stored some 5.1 million recordings of taxpayers through the
telephone services. The trick they are using is to require the caller to
repeat the phrase 'My voice is my password' to access its tax services, and
unknown to the customers they have now trapped themselves as they are unable to
opt out of saying the phrase, there is no choice to decline or delete any
activity they make. The Organisation - Big Brother Watch say that
HMRC is breaching data protection laws.
No-one at the HMRC would discuss this when a request was made to clarify the
position. It is intertesting that they are not subject to any of this and
immediately tell callers they cannot answer as it is protected by the data law,
but you are not, especially when they can then farm your data out to any agency
they wish to without needing authority.

'The non-existent Code system -- HMRC GOV.UK'

We were contacted and told that this system to
access your details such as pension and tax etc was more or less a lie, the
customer was left waiting for over 40 minutes for an access code sent to their
e-mail account. HMRC said it would take 'a few minutes' but no such e-mail
or code arrived in their in-box. It was however, a huge inconvenience to
the customer who eventually gave up trying in case they got the threats and
things saying there would be penalties? a pastime the tax workers enjoy.

HMRC in callous mode -- A Report in Carers UK shows how staff at the Tax
Office have no regard for anyone struggling to survive their rules of 2014,
which says in definition to being 'self employed' and being in business 'Buying
and Selling with the intention to make a profit' This case which is
not pleasant goes by the handle 'bowlingbun', she lost her husband who ran the
small company. She notified the HMRC that all she had after the funeral
was 30 tons of vintage lorry spares; otherwise called assets by this lot.
Which took her over 10 years to gradually sell. They told her it was her
own choice to downsize the stuff, and that was her own affair. They also
said this did not amount to a business under their interpretation and gave her
no help or tax credits, this was all she had to live on, and promptly ignored
her as if she didn't exist.....however if there had been the slightest cash they
could grab, they would have been all over her.....what bastards eh? (6/7/2018)

NB this tale can be accessed on
the web by going to the carers uk link.

'HMRC USE THE 'ERROR' GAME'

Yes, here we know that game all too well, it's
frequently used like 'a get out of jail card' and works for this lot every time.
This report comes from the Political corridors of power and they say a Tory
privileged connection was revealed by the HMRC, which of course yet again
indicates data law. Ministers said it was 'A huge error of judgement' for
an HM Revenue and Customs Official to mention that Lycamobile was a major Tory
Party Donor when turning down a French request for help with an inquiry into the
telecoms company Phillip Hammond said. He said the decision to decline the
French request was properly made by HMRC Lawyers, but it was 'inappropriate' to
mention 'completely extraneous' and 'irrelevant' Tory donations and 'The Prince
Charles Trust' in the response. This involved the subject of
'money-laundering' and an investigation into the telecoms firm. Apparently
HMRC Lawyers were unable to satisfy a UK Judge that the criteria for issuing a
search warrant had been met, which in layman terms showed that these Lawyers for
the HMRC didn't have enough proof, but still thought they could get away with it
because they were with the Tax Authorities.

'Dark Secrets come to light on HMRC Lawyers '

It's not often that one gets a helping hand
from someone in the organisation, and in the light of the above article we were
rewarded when a whistleblower contacted us. We have reluctantly agreed to
call him 'M' otherwise we probably would not have got this article. 'M'
says he is a caseworker who works between the departments, legal and management,
who discuss possible cases of claims against the HMRC, and whenever there is a
serious or difficult one looming on the horizon, they immediately meet to
discuss what the claimant may have and how to 'rubbish' it basically. He
says that all paperwork on file is pulled together and civil servants involved
are interviewed mainly to see if this can be altered and shown as an error by
the claimant and if necessary alter some of the papers and claim copies had to
be made because the originals were accidentally shredded or a glitch on the
computer resulting in corrupted files. He said he had seen them almost
willing to go to any length to hinder the claimant and delay the courts and
tribunals so that they could 'fix things' Some civil servants involved in
disputes were briefed and told how to answer the court, and of course remain
silent while the Lawyer took over in typical 'firewall' mode. He said they
were well versed in protecting the HMRC and staying just within the law in
tricky situations even though they had misled the court without anyone picking
up on it. We did ask him for some examples and possible cases that showed
this, but he sounded hesitant and said he would think about it and come back to
us later.

'HMRC is sued by Rupert Grint over tax claim'

Heavyweight young film star RUPERT GRINT
(Harry Potter fame), went into court contesting a tax bill by the HMRC. He
was seeking 1 million pounds from the taxman after they blocked attempts to
shield some of his earnings from the 50p rate of tax levied 6 years previously.
His accountants told him that tax inspectors had prevented him employing an
accounting period shorter than twelve months, and their refusal to accept the
data resulted in him paying an extra 1 million pounds, which he now wants
refunded.
It then transpired that the HMRC civil servants wildly jumped on a rough
so-called accounting document 'discovered as they claimed' during a unrelated
and routine VAT inspection. Lawyers for Mr Grint said 'The HMRC insisted
on and relied on this document as 'proof' when it was just an informal draft of
financial information never intended to constitute an official set of accounts'
(28/6/2016)

NB: As we see again, this is yet another case
when they rewrite the evidence into what interpretation they want it to be.

'Taxman Deals come with 'dodgy' being written all
over them'

It's not all that surprising to learn that
HMRC have certain little secrets they want to keep that way, especially in the
light that a confidential leak was exposed when reporters discovered that the
taxman was 'ordered to go easy on Amazon' -- It appears that Deputy
Director Guy Westhead was recorded saying ministers had been reluctant to
challenge giant online market Amazon over claims of tax avoidance. it is
said these remarks were made in a private conversation with tax campaigner,
Richard Allen in 2015, the same man who lobbied HMRC for better enforcement of
VAT Law. Apparently he told Mr Westhead, 'What worries me is ministers
have some kind of agenda to basically not annoy Amazon. After certain
other things that should be considered as to why one should not go after Amazon
that might be beneficial, he said 'I've heard from the Treasury , and they don't
want us to be too hard on Amazon.' Yet earlier in the same year, the
Treasury had been saying it would clamp down hard on Web Giants and consider new
rules? .....which now seem to be yesterdays news! (July 2018)

Both the HMRC and DWP have a distinct nasty
approach of 'threatening claimants and taxpayers alike' in just about every
document written and devised by Lawyers acting for them, often using words like
'Penalties' and 'Pass this on to a Debt Collection Agency' and we know such
actions callously lead to cases like the 'Suicide of 19yr old Jerome Rogers' who
was hounded by bailiffs employed by the courts and State. All they could
utter after his death was 'It isn't our fault' when in fact it clearly was no
matter how the Lawyers spin it into a tragic accident to disclaim any liability
on behalf of their clients. Lawyers are trained in the art of deception
the moment they enter Law School or University to study Law (We have several
cases of trainee Lawyers caught out in this very subject). As with the DWP
and its invention of 'Sanctions' - Civil Servants empowered with this authority
to use them, often do so without much care for the claimant or what harm it
inflicts financially, after all, they're doing it for the State?
HMRC with their departments and Lawyers have many such options that cause
disastrous harm like ruining businesses, ruining individuals and driving victims
into poverty, and in some cases -- suicide. After all, they're doing it
for the State! Amazingly, they delude themselves by claiming that they
have a reputation to uphold, and falsely claim to be honest and caring, which is
really outrageous!!

'HMRC Bungle leaves many paying the wrong amount'

The Report says it is a 'computer error', yes,
another one of those mystery errors where 'Joe Public' gets the blame and pays
the price. This so called 'error' is said to affect pensioners and
thousands of others being charged the wrong amount of tax. Money Mail says
the error is in the software, and it is calculating taxpayers bills wrongly.
The HMRC in response played down this incident and says only a small amount of
people were affected as the errors are now being corrected? (January 2018)

'HMRC gloat over Tax Snatch'

Not only do they tip off and work hand in hand
with the DWP, but they have an added quality of making sure they leave some
people (and that is most), without anything to live on despite the lies they
pitch to the Press. A recent article in the Newspapers points to gloating,
a rather sinister and nasty way of enjoying their jobs. Adam Lulat was
involved in a case brought by the HMRC, one in which he was convicted, and the
authorities put in an order that he paid the taxman a large sum of money, but
his only asset was One Pound in his bank account. Shortly after he won at
a poker game, the sum of 68,930 pounds, which led to the HMRC Rottweiler's
pouncing on this money by bringing him back to court,........... and the full
amount 'with the court's help' was handed over to HMRC.

'Taxman 'Wholly Unreasonable' says Judge as
business couple win case'

A small Southend family business in Essex
defeated the HMRC at a Court Tribunal after Tax Inspectors targeted The
Farthings Steak House Restaurant. They made assertions that the fifty
percent gross profits in the account books were far too low, and immediately
applied 'pressure' demanding that they pay the Inland Revenue 20,000 pounds.
However, at the Tribunal Court they beat down the might of the HMRC and won a
landmark judgement as the Judge awarded costs against the HMRC for the first
time. The Judge said that the HMRC acted in 'bad faith' and were 'wholly
unreasonable' when they demanded the money from business owners Trevor and
Vivienne Scott.

The Special Commissioners later said
that the officers from HMRC were 'heavy handed' in dealing with the small
business......which yet again shows another case of HMRC Bully Tactics and abuse
of power!

'Tax Credit Fiasco forces woman to pawn parent's
jewellery'

MP's were not happy when they got wind of a
case which involved a woman claimant who was left penniless when the taxman
suddenly took away her tax credit payments, now known to have been 'mistakenly'
halted. Things got so bad for this 'un-named' woman that she had to resort
to pawning her parent's jewellery so that she could pay the bills and get
through the period of hell the tax authorities put her through. It
therefore came as no surprise to learn that the HMRC blamed 'Outsourcing' for
the problem when interviewed by the Press.
However, MP Sammy Wilson said 'If there's any fault to be attributed, it has to
be by the people who issued the contract in the first place, and that squarely
lies with the HMRC. (18/10/2016)

'Inland Revenue staff and the waste of cash over
IT System'

A report slightly hidden, reveals that the
HMRC paid out 2 million pounds so that 600 members of staff could stay away
while they fixed a new IT system that didn't work correctly. It was agreed
by the tax authorities that the 600 workers could have 75 percent of their
salaries paid to them during the three months while the computer system was
being attended to. It tells us that these civil servants were tasked with
looking for the fraudsters of tax credit claims?

'Taxation 'error' forces footballer to go bust'

A HMRC tax error forced football player Pape
Souare to go bust in order to pay his debts a report has revealed. It says
he had been paying the wrong tax since the year 2015, The football player
for Crystal Palace was forced by the circumstances to enter into a voluntary
insolvency arrangement over this tax error despite earning around 30,000 pounds
a week at the club,
Crystal Palace said it was entirely the fault of HMRC, who in turn said
they could not discuss specific cases! (12/4/2018)

'HMRC Claimant Compliance Officer steals Benefit
Cash'

Civil Servant NICOLA SHAW worked as an
investigator in the Claimant Compliance Team Benefits Section, and most of her
job involved the scrutiny of claims, forms and making sure the claimers had
notified the HMRC of any change of circumstances. But behind this facade
of diligence and loyalty to the Inland Revenue, she was in fact, one of the
perpetrators of a fraud within the department as she stole 50,000 pounds and
made false statements in order to claim benefits too. It was said in court
that she had pretended to be a single mum for almost six years, when in fact she
wasn't. (20/2/2018)

'HMRC play the Con Game well'

It is a fact that HMRC have long taken the
view that they can do what they like without the Law doing much about it.
A report tells us that The Inland Revenue knew about 'mistakes' long before they
decided to tell the Public about them (this comes from The Taxpayers Alliance).
Also the fact that the Public Accounts Committee criticised them for their
'mismanagement' of the tax system over a number of years.

'The 'Law Unto Itself HMRC' and the Penalty
Bungle'

This item is rather more than what the title
suggests, in that the HMRC after introducing the draconian law on APN's, allowed
them to remove funds from individual bank accounts before any appeal or the
matter reached court. Accountants have raised the matter as a subject of a
Legal Challenge, because this is likened to jailing someone without the proper
evidence, or no evidence at all, and then sentencing them without due process --
which the standard law of this country does not allow......except at the HMRC
(and one gets the distinct felling that HMRC lawyers had a hand in this).
One should ask why this is so, especially in a democracy, unless as we have said
before, that this Tory Government supported this and have an agenda to take
freedoms and rights from the Public. (5/7/2015)

'HMRC Civil Servant Faces Dismissal'

Although an earlier report we obviously
missed, this report concerns a Female Junior Official at the HMRC at the
Washington Office in the Tyne Tees area. It appears that official data on
discs went astray as it was being sent from the Washington Office to the
National Audit Office in London. The report says there was a possibility
that 316,000 North East families could be exposed to identity fraud following a
Child Benefits Blunder. A Scotland Yard Police Spokesman in their Press
Division, told the Evening Chronicle that they were conducting enquiries in Tyne
and Wear which will take a number of days with their colleagues in Nothumbria
Police. The investigation is to centre around the 'lost discs'
Someone at HMRC said that the civil servant would be facing disciplinary
proceedings! (21/1/20O7)

NB In a online blog, it says 'HMRC CIVIL
SERVANT RESIGNS'

'HMRC accused of Voice Print Harvesting'

A new report says that the HMRC have amassed
some 5.1 million 'Audio Signatures' without the consent or authority of the
taxpayers, who it is said 'are locked out' of being able to decline such an
action. It is also said that they are 'storing' this audio data and
analysing it for another agenda only known to the Inland Revenue. Big
Brother Watch accuses the HMRC of creating 'biometric ID' cards by this 'back
door method' in order to deceive the public and provide such information to
certain government departments that will be given access to it should the need
arise in times of uncertainty and elections. (25/6/2018)

'Risk of exclusion by HMRC to the aged over phone
call 5 minute waiting'

This situation is not new, and in truth, the
HMRC show no sign of doing any better because they simply don't care. A
new report showed that it was now taking the tax man an average of four minutes
28 seconds to answer to answer most calls and longer with others. It
is stated that this is now 30 seconds longer than previously. The HMRC
Annual Report says they didn't expect this in their long forecast and discovered
that not as many use their digital services as they'd hoped for.... which in
turn meant they didn't have enough staff to attend phone callers. Age UK's
Caroline Abrahams suggested that the government should be forced by law to
ensure that the service meets the need of the elderly and for those who haven't
got pc's or use websites. (26/8/2018)

'Is the HMRC Corrupt? the Guardian Report - and
is it provable?

Corruption in the Oxford Dictionary says it is
influence by using bribery or morally depraved. Corruption or corrupt
practices in the Concise Law Dictionary refers to it as - treating, undue
influence, making a false declaration, disadvantaging someone wilfully or by
inaction, and to gain by deceptive actions.... all
of which the HMRC has done at one time or another. A Guardian Report says
that MP's are to investigate an HMRC decision to turn down a French Request for
help in a criminal inquiry into a major Tory Party Donor. Someone involved
in investigations of this sort says it is the absolute duty of the HMRC to
assist the Tax Authority of another country seeking information in that case
(20/4/2018)...whether or not this is the case, the HMRC do lay themselves open
to suspicion that they wish to prevent information, which can be seen as a sort
of contempt and corrupt activity.
We now look at the HMRC's reaction or inaction of a Freedom of Information
Request made by David Baker direct to the HMRC asking how many staff did they
employ to investigate HMRC Corruption? along with several other related
questions, which he sent on the 27th of August 2012. He had to write
three letters over a period and none were answered?
We also have 'DISSENT' a group who intended to reveal HMRC Corruption and
Ineptitude (5/12/2011) -- this article by Michele McGagh obviously intended to
be 'shocking and revealing' announced that rebel staff at the Inland Revenue had
set up a group which they named Dissent within the HMRC Authority to expose the
corruption and ineptitude of the Department. She says it has 324 members
who wish to speak out against the practice and double-standards that operate at
the HMRC. She said 'they have already amassed a comprehensive database of
personal information on staff members, including expenses issues, benefit
incidents and conflict of interest cases.'
Sadly as far as we can tell, nothing has really been exposed or revealed by this
inner sanctum group, and we'd know about it on this site, so it was either
disbanded or ran into data law issues with the HMRC, which is standard practice
in relation to inside investigations and staff issues such as misconduct, you
the public are not entitled to know any outcome, it's all 'in-house' stuff and
it's kept that way for an obvious purpose. Corruption of a Department or
Corporation cannot go to jail, and no government will let that happen, that's
why the HMRC have made themselves exempt in many cases relating to wrong-doing
and corruption will always be denied by them no matter how strong the evidence
is as it will never reach an open court, their lawyers will see to that.
Disadvantaging someone wilfully or by inaction is easily shown here by a case we
dealt with when they demanded 'An Overpayment' which sounds okay on the surface,
but not when one looks at it closely--- the claimant faced a bill of 1,745
pounds, having been paid benefit to support his low takings which sadly didn't
achieve more than 30 pounds on an average week. This was over a period of six
months before they dealt him the blow made by 'a civil servant's decision'.
Which turns out that he lived on just 20 to 30 pounds a week for that period as
he has to return the money. This sum is well below poverty level, but they
didn't care. In those six months he couldn't claim from the DWP or
elsewhere as he was 'labelled self-employed'...so where was the support?
There wasn't any, he can't go to the DWP and make a retrospective claim because
they would just deny liability. Yet, the HMRC did and have 'disadvantaged
the claimant' and merely walk away from this denying culpability.....so look at
the question, and yes is the answer you should arrive at.

NB: CORRUPTION IS UNDOUBTEDLY PROVEN AGAINST
THE HMRC IN THE CASE BELOW 'HMRC WITHDRAWS MONTPELIER PROSECUTION DURING
TRIAL' because they corruptly used the Police and CPS to disadvantage Edward
Gittins and close him down maliciously.

'HMRC in 'Honours' Scandal'

It is well known by now that the Inland
Revenue is virtually spying on anyone and everyone, most of whom they target
because of their suspicious minds. Little is known on these 'Civil
Servants' only that they hide behind a 'shield' that the Tory Government
provides for them, just as others have in the past. Therefore, this new
revelation that they have some sway on the selection of people to be nominated
an award or mention in The Queens Honours' comes as no surprise to this site at
all. The report says they have a policy of 'advising' the Honours Board
against giving honours to 'tax-avoiding celebrities' etc, and one shouldn't pay
too much attention to 'celebrity' here. This policy appears to be backed
by MP Vince Cable who is fast losing fans the more distant he begins to bat from
the main area. The revelation of this article had yet again to be found
via the Freedom of Information Act' otherwise it would remain in the 'Do not
open' chest of the HMRC, who do as much covering-up as they can. It says
they use 'The Traffic Light' system used to identify an individual's suitability
for the honour, and analyses nominees to check the risk of them being exposed
over their tax affairs. It seems strange that a money conscious body
empowered by the government should be given this power to look at people who are
often from the helping community besides sports and the world of TV etc, it
smacks of intrusion by a spy body that is only accountable to privy
commissioners within the Cabinet Office, let alone the Commons Select Committees
who have been thwarted on more than one occasion when they have refused to
answer questions? (2/9/2018)

'HMRC lose case as four accused go free'

In a remarkable fraud case brought by the HMRC,
the Public Gallery cheered and clapped as the four accused defendants were
cleared of all charges in a 6 million pound duty case that collapsed. The
men from Woodford Green and Loughton stood in the dock of Chelmsford Crown Court
as the Judge announced that they were free to go as the CPS were offering no
evidence against the accused, after reviewing the case prepared by the HMRC
Lawyers. No other explanation for the collapse of the case was given or
offered by Prosecutor Gareth Munday. All the men had pleaded not guilty at
an earlier hearing prior to being sent for a Crown Court Trial.
(4/11/2016)

Note, apart from the public expense of this
HMRC case, we will never know what the HMRC lawyers got up to, so if anybody
knows just contact us with an e-mail (confidential or not or any papers on the
case)

Talking about HMRC Lawyers and tactics, look
at the following case:

HMRC withdraws Montpelier prosecution during trial

Thursday, 18 September, 2014

Two tax
planning accountants have been acquitted of cheating the public revenue by
promoting a scheme that encouraged clients to claim tax relief on gifts of gilts
to charity.

Edward
Watkin Gittins and Martin Calcutt, both Directors of tax consultancy Montpelier
and members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, were charged in August
2013. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) alleged that their scheme, in which
taxpayers gave of gilts to a charity with an option to a trust to buy the gilts
for a nominal sum, was an abuse of gift aid tax relief. Gittins, an Isle of Man
resident, was accused of designing the scheme, while he and Calcutt both
implemented it between March 2004 and February 2007 to arrange donations to the
Vauxhall Adult Education Trust in Liverpool – after the scheme had been
officially shut down by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The CPS also charged
Calcutt with supplying forged documents to HMRC to support claims for tax
relief.

By
then, relations between Montpelier and HMRC already had a long and bitter
history. HMRC had begun its investigation into Montpelier in 2007. In September
2010, at the HMRC's request, police used an illegally obtained search warrant to
raid Montpelier's premises in Douglas and in London, and Gittins was arrested.
The police were subsequently sued for damages and forced to pay all Montpelier's
legal costs, but the raid produced so much bad press that the consultancy had to
make 40 staff redundant.

The
prosecution of the two men came to Liverpool Crown Court this month. The HMRC
originally alleged that the gifts themselves were fraudulent, but this argument
was withdrawn in an earlier hearing. HMRC then claimed that the taxpayers had
submitted fraudulent and inaccurate returns with Gittins' knowledge, and that
tax relief of over GBP2.5 million had been claimed for a year in which it was
not due. However the defence then brought evidence to show that Gittins had not
helped any of the clients draft their tax returns, which were in any case
accurate.

At this
point, two weeks into the trial, the CPS announced it would offer no further
evidence and withdrew the prosecution. Nonetheless it insisted its initial
decision to prosecute had been right based on the material provided by HMRC and
the defence at the time.

Gittins'
legal representative Mark Spragg said HMRC never had a case, and that its
actions were designed merely to close him down. Gittins is now taking advice on
possible recourse.

Note:
This case printed as seen, should worry many as it shows police corruption and
probable HMRC collusion in corruption in that both parties attempted to convict
these two by fair or foul means. It was only when it turned into a fiasco
because of unlawful moves that the police were rightly sued. The HMRC
obviously wriggled and wondered what they could pull in 'protective measures' to
themselves so they could back out when things were getting too hot and rely on
Crown Immunity to cover their tracks. The CPS had a case to answer too,
but they pulled out before damage came their way, and before they too faced a
writ or similar. It's interesting to see that they put the blame on HMRC for
what they got up to.....its all rather convenient. From the final
paragraph we also see there may be a case of damages launched against the HMRC
which should be so considering their actions in this matter.

'HMRC use their power to alter Legal Goal Posts'

As we have seen in the previous article, HMRC
will stoop to anything no matter how sordid it may be, and it should be termed
as an Abuse of Power. One often wonders, particularly now, are the HMRC
running this country? Well we shall look at that in a following article,
but for now let us look at a Report that says they have muscled in on the law in
the 2014 Financial Bill with a new requirement 'Accelerated Payment Notices'.
Before this change, when the HMRC ordered a person to pay tax which 'it
believes' had been unfairly claimed in Tax Relief, the individual could appeal
the decision through a Tribunal Court, and they wouldn't have to pay the HMRC
anything until the HMRC had clearly won by demonstrating this legally.
Under the new changes, the individual must pay the amount immediately 'upfront',
and will only be paid when and if they win. Which is like having to pay
for an item not sent but held back by the other party until you can prove you
are entitled to it, which is not only bizarre, but smacks of illegality too.
Regulators said 'This changes the presumption from innocent to proven guilty to
guilty until proven innocent' (3/7/2014)

'If you want to know about pensions who do you
call? the HMRC!

Yes, you were thinking The Department of Work
and Pensions, but in this case you are wrong, the HMRC have got in there as this
next article proves, a little bit unsettling isn't it? However, you
shouldn't be surprised really, they're up to all sorts nowadays, and backed up
to the hilt by the present Tory Government who are trying to grab as much
pension back as they can and lessen its entitlement by involving these civil
servants in the scrutiny of assets and pension schemes they can debunk and lay
open to penalties. So when you check on your pension it may well be
intercepted by the HMRC who have given it the once or twice over.
Financial Services say that the Pension system is quite complicated and the
government have a thing called a 'Pension Reconciliation Service' It
requires the administrators of employer-based pension schemes to check the
records they hold about current and former employees against information held by
the HMRC to see if they match up. The government say this is important to
ensure you get the 'correct pension benefits' at retirement, and it could affect
the private pension you are due to receive or currently get, and the state
pension you will receive. The Guaranteed Minimum Pension or GMP.HMRC
uses this to work out how much state pension you are due. But some of
these GMP records companies held can date back decades, and there can be
'errors'.......yes that word again, so much used by the HMRC and DWP....so
beware. (August 2018)

'Contractor wins in court against the HMRC'

Another piece of good news here.....IT
Contractor Ian Wells successfully won at The Court of Appeals against the HMRC,
and they were ordered to pay him back 26,000 pounds in back taxes under the IR35
Legislation. This case relied on 'interpretation' and as we know so often
in HMRC situations they construe what they like on most occasions with a pinch
of bending the truth. Strangely enough, Mr Wells was involved in a
'working arrangement on the DWP's Universal Credit project in 2012 to 2013, but
on this occasion we will forgive him for that and leave that issue out here.
In the Court Report it says that HMRC civil servant staff decided that his tax
situation should be classified as 'an employee' with the DWP so that they could
demand income tax of nearly 15,000 pounds, plus National Insurance
Contributions. In her summing up, Judge Jennifer Dean ruled that all the
elements of Mr Wells contract with the DWP pointed towards him being an
Independent Contractor and said that the HMRC case had failed to prove him
liable for the imposed tax bill. (17/3/2018)

'HMRC on Recovery end of unpaid debt'

Turning the tables on the Inland Revenue is
rare and many wonder if the Government give HMRC undeserved immunity so that
they cannot be brought into court by the mere mortal taxpayer. This
article within the pages of the gigantic Interweb brings up that question of
immunity and how the HMRC use it to fend off claimant action. The man says
his client has lost patience with the HMRC who have dragged out and failed to
send him a repayment that he was due. He says he now wishes to lodge a
claim in the courts to recover the payment, and can he? He's heard through
gossip etc, that they are immune from any civil court action! Well,
they're not, but they like to think so and encourage the idea with the general
public. You can launch a writ for a non-payment, but this will need
several factors available to you. Firstly you need a document from them
specifically saying they will pay you on a fixed date, but check to see if they
have a period of extension surrounding this on their site and have letters you
sent them that they have not responded to or ignored. They will of course
make things as difficult as they can.....so one piece of good advice we found by
a previous dissatisfied claimant was that you try writing to the following with
your complaint: The Chairman's Office, Board of HM Revenue and Customs, 1
Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET....it sometimes works. (31/8/2011)

'HMRC sends Debt Collection Agency on Elderly'

The Report by Money Mail tells us that HMRC
have set Debt Collectors on elderly taxpayers without a warning to correct
'blunders' on bills. It says that pensioners and families are being
threatened in letters sent out by Debt Recovery Agents for the HMRC without
warning demanding immediate payment. It further says that people are being
harassed over debts that are more than ten years old, and others are wrongly
being hounded after 'errors' by these civil servants led to Debt Collectors and
visits. It says that instead of 'politeness' to the taxpayer, officials at
the HMRC are calling in the hounds of hell to grab money that many do not owe.
A taxpayer watchdog say they have been left feeling very vulnerable and scared,
fearing bailiffs might turn up out of the blue to start taking their furniture
and possessions. Citizens Advice say that the HMRC are accounting for a
large number of complaints and this is increasing at an alarming rate...due
mainly to debts. (12/7/2016)

'Fake News or HMRC Misdirection?'

'DID THE HEAD OF HMRC RESIGN OVER SECURITY
BREACH?' AS CLAIMED OR WAS IT ARRANGED AS A PR STUNT?

This article goes back to November 2007, a
time when 'Fake News' wasn't quoted, but as you will read here, there are things
that don't add up to the resignation being true at all, in fact we found a
little known contradiction hiding on the Interweb that makes this look like a
stunt pulled by the HMRC to get the public to look the other way. The
Report said 'HMRC Head Resigns over Security Breach' and that PAUL GRAY
quit his post at the Inland Revenue over his handling of the matter of the loss
of taxpayers data. It went onto say that 15,000 people had to be warned of
potential scammers being able to access bank and other details. The Report
also led one to believe that the data disc was lost in transit by a courier
working for HMRC. Strangely, before the so-called resignation ahead of a
Commons statement, BBC's Radio 4 Money Box programme announced that a CD
containing the personal details of thousands of Standard Life Pension holders
had gone missing? However, the trail led to another source that
categorically denounced the resignation claimed to have been announced ahead of
a Commons Statement by Chancellor Alistair Darling, of whom one expects that
Gray and Darling had meetings prior to the Data Scandal. Hansard showed
that the Chancellor never said that Paul Gray resigned at all! only that he
accepted responsibility and had the intention to resign, which was confirmed by
Gray is not the same thing as actually resigning. Two weeks later Gray was
seen in Whitehall working on a 'special project' with Sir Gus O'Donnell.
Later we had Whitehall contradicting itself, The Cabinet Office said Mr Gray
remains a Senior Civil Servant. Even more strange it was said at the
resignation point 'that he left with immediate effect?' So what was Gray
doing at the Cabinet Office? On approaching the Cabinet Office for an
answer to the puzzle, it was discovered that there was no listing for Paul Gray
in its Internal Phone Directory and neither did its HR Department have any
record of him? Yet in December, they let it slip that he was still on full
pay and that he would collect a pension of around 1.7 million pounds. However,
the story changed later to Paul Gray having 'retired' and did not resign!
Make what you will of this, as these are the facts,
are we looking at a slice of deception here?
Finally, we add the following to this -- HMRC CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER STUART
CRUIKSHANK quit his position shortly after Mr Gray left, and STEVE LAMEY was the
Chief Information Officer at the HMRC when the data incident exploded in Mr
Gray's face, and some are asking why wasn't he pulled in to this considering his
post?

'HMRC Civil servant in Income Tax Fraud'

TAX ADVISER AMJAD KHAN faced jail for not
paying income tax for 13 years, and claiming around 24,000 pounds in Tax Credits
while working at the HMRC in Bradford. Ironically while conducting the
ethical and legal obligations required from taxpayers in his advisory capacity,
he had been committing fraud against the State as he told people to be lawful
and warned them of the consequences of tax fraud. The Judge sitting at
Bradford Crown Court sentenced him to prison for 20 months for committing two
separate frauds for a considerable time and evading income tax, and abusing his
position of trust. (16/3/2018)

'Investigation into HMRC and The Concentrix
Contract'

In 2013 the HMRC said that its contract with
the American firm Concentrix would save 1 billion pounds over the life of the
deal struck by the government. It was clearly going wrong months into the
contract when they reduced the above forecast of 'the savings' to just 40
million. Concentrix stopped or amended tax credit awards in around 12
percent of cases investigated, of which 32 percent of these cases were
overturned on appeal following a 'mandatory reconsideration' HMRC
terminated the contract amid the fury of some MP's who were not satisfied with
the results or how things were managed (2017).

'HMRC Raid on Club could be Unlawful'

The Judge in the case said 'It was arguable on
several grounds the search warrant was 'OBTAINED UNLAWFULLY' That's
what he decided in the case of The Inland Revenue's raid on Newcastle United
Football Club. This sparked the question that the taxman's seizure of
documents was not done correctly. The Club had applied for permission to
seek a Judicial Review of the search-and-seizure order the HMRC had obtained.
Mr Justice Supperstone said there must be a full High Court hearing on the
issues. The HMRC had suspicions that the club was involved in a tax fraud
concerning agents and payments made in transfer dealings. Lawyers for the
Football club said the warrants were flawed and no proper reasons were given.
An order was made by the Judge preventing HMRC Officers from examining the
seized material pending a full inquiry hearing on the matter. (27/6/2017)

'Worker gets compensation and wins against HMRC
on a challenge'

In the Case of: MOORTHY versus THE REVENUE AND
CUSTOMS -- The employee received 200,000 pounds which the taxman said fell
within the rule of taxation 401(1)(a) of ITEPA 2003. But part of this
award was for 'Injury to Feelings' which the HMRC claimed was taxable too under
the rules as shown. The HMRC challenged Mr Moorthy's claim by quoting rule
s.406 ITEPA. The claimant Mr Moorthy appealed against both decisions.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the first ground of Appeal, 'it was beyond
reasonable doubt that the FTT and Upper Tribunal (UT) were both correct to
decide that the 200,000 pounds payment to Mr Moorthy fell within that single
section 401(1)(a). It was however, perfectly reasonable of the claimant in
connection with the termination of his employment to receive the damages (Injury
to Feelings) in respect of actionable discrimination on the grounds of age as
falling within the exemption in section 406. Mr Moorthy won his appeal and
case. But directly after the win the HMRC and government amended the law
so that no-one else could win in these circumstances!

'Woman is hounded by HMRC after ticking the wrong
box'

PENSIONER and retiree Anne Funnell had her
life turned upside down by the taxman when she accidentally ticked the wrong box
on the self-assessment form sent to her by the HMRC. Forms are
difficult enough and for the aged, they can not only be daunting, but hard to
understand. Frail 83 year old Anne didn't realise she'd done anything
wrong until she suddenly received a letter from the HMRC demanding an immediate
payment of 5,541 pounds for unpaid National Insurance contributions dating back
to the 70's and 80's. From her home in Norwich, she described the letter
as 'threatening' apart from a paragraph mentioning that the debt collectors
could be called in plus lose the right to a State Pension. Unfortunately,
the HMRC and DWP use this sort of language frequently in order to put fear into
claimants, which is plainly an abuse of their authority if not Human Rights Law.
Some observers say this is menacing and on the verge of blackmail. The
only good news here is that the HMRC realised their 'mistake' and apologised for
sending the letter which they admitted was erroneous! (14/8/2017)

HOUNDING THE POOREST with Debt Collectors and
agencies --- here are some figures obtained by way of an F.O.I. The HMRC
made 215,144 referrals to debt collection agencies in 2013 to 2014 to secure
direct recovery of overpaid personal tax credit.

TAXMAN ADMITS THERE IS ONE LAW FOR THE RICH
AND ONE FOR THE POOR -- This was a bit of a gaff caught by the Press by a senior
government official, which has embarrassed the Inland Revenue and mildly dented
their crumbling exterior. This disclosure was made by Richard Las , the
Deputy Director of HMRC, and it provoked an angry response from campaigners who
wish to see that the tax man is being fair to everybody. Whereas this
statement suggests that some people with wealth are having special treatment
afforded to them. This has also brought back memories of recent deals
struck by the HMRC which did not appear fair to the majority of taxpayers.
Shortly after the statement was made, the HMRC forcibly replied 'there have been
no admissions of underhand deals, adding everyone must pay their fair share of
tax regardless of wealth and status! It's quite apparent
that many don't believe this to be true, and they have a point.

'Taxpayer wins appeal over allowances against the
HMRC'

Laptop Dancer Gemma Daniels who worked in the
city at the Stringfellows Nightclub was asked to pay more than 8,600 extra in
taxes after the HMRC decided that she could not claim for clothing and travel.
Gemma who is self-employed could not believe these things were not tax
deductable, especially as the clothing was 'costume items' for performances, and
her expenses of travel to the venue. She wanted to query this officially
and got nowhere with the local tax office, so she decided to go the legal route
and partially won an appeal at the Tax Chamber sitting at Taylor House, London.
They ruled that her claim for clothing, dry cleaning and cosmetics were
permitted under allowances, but the travel expenses were not. They agreed
that the clothing did refer to 'working outfits' which would not be suitable for
wearing outside. So in the light of this, they upheld her appeal.
(11/9/2018)

'MP's worried over HMRC Tactics'

We've come across this report issued in 2007,
which revealed that even a bunch of unhappy MP's could do little about the
behaviour of the HMRC, or should that correctly be 'Misbehaviour' of the HMRC
and its staff. Mp's at the time accused the HMRC of making the misery of a
family breakdown worse by 'relentless' pursuing of separated couples for unpaid
tax. They quoted figures of 350,000 people having to endure this
'hounding' One Mp said 'It's ridiculous that couples are jointly
liable for overpayments and the HMRC have been given the power to pursue the
repayment from whichever party they choose or left on their radar, which can
often be a single mother left holding the baby.'

NB: This was at a time when GORDON BROWN
was running things....so don't forget that when you research this site for
information.

'Widow is harassed by taxman despite owing
nothing'

This is a rather nasty tale of civil service
ignorance --- Widow Joanne Allen whose Paramedic husband Dave, died two years
before, says she is still getting letters demanding money from the HMRC when she
actually owes nothing! Joanne from Plymouth, says she is being
hounded and harassed by the HMRC who keep sending out these letters with threats
attached. The 51 year old Theatre Sister says her husband didn't owe them
a thing before he died, she says it is becoming very stressful and continues to
make her feel anxious.
The letters started arriving in August 2016, two months after her husband's
death -- in one letter it said she would owe an extra 10 pounds a day, everyday,
if the money wasn't handed over! She wrote several times to the local tax
office and felt ignored by the staff there..... But in December 2016 the HMRC
suddenly found 'THERE HAD BEEN A MISTAKE'
But lo and behold! this wasn't the end of it at all, it all started up again in
March 2018, and the demand letters arrived yet again. Luckily, this was
quickly halted and they apologised for 'YET ANOTHER MISTAKE?'
(5/4/2018)

'HMRC Refuse to Respect a Decision of the Court'

THIS WAS THE COURT OF APPEAL NO LESS!
when The Federation of Small Businesses attacked the conduct of the HMRC in a
Family Tax Case that was discussed in The House of Lords. It concerned the
decision by The Inland Revenue to ignore a refusal by The Court of Appeal to
allow a Petition to The House of Lords in The 'Arctic Systems Case' as it was
called. This was a family business owned by the Joneses. A This was
a decisive ruling by The Court of Appeal in favour of the Taxpayer. But in
their arrogance, HMRC flouted the law and continued its campaign to extract
money from the Joneses who used dividends from the business to remunerate
themselves and the shareholders.
Bill Knox, Chairman of The Small Businesses Federation said the HMRC's behaviour
in this case is shameful! (13/6/2007)

UPDATE - Following this we're pleased to
announce that the Taxman suffered a Major Defeat in this case when Law Lords
dismissed the HMRC appeal and ruled in favour of the Joneses and their company.
(27/10/2009)

We included this case to show you how the HMRC
conduct themselves to the point of ignoring the law, and breaking it when it
suits them!

'HMRC cause alarm and distress to 90 year old
pensioner'

It's quite sad to say these cases are becoming
more frequent with the HMRC, and we see no sign of things getting better soon?
This is the report concerning pensioner George Taylor of Merseyside who was
still trying to cope with the recent death of his wife when the taxman sent him
a bill claiming that he owed them 200,000 pounds! The reality was in fact
that they owed him a 16pounds and sixty pence refund. The demand was yet
another one of these so-called 'errors' by the HMRC, which as you will have seen
on this page, happen frequently and they are continually used as an excuse.
However, moving on, the worst part of this was that they almost drove the 90
year old man to suicide. Being alone and having no one to turn to, it was
left to him to contact the tax office and 'prove' that he didn't owe this
massive amount of money to the Inland Revenue. As you can imagine, it
wasn't an easy battle to prove oneself innocent when it comes to the HMRC and he
said the experience was quite awful. No-one ever apologised for the error
he said, they just simply blamed it on a computer error! (6/8/2018)

'HMRC in Damages Case concerning False claims and
taxman tactics'

This doesn't read well no matter how you look
at it, and some of the Judges comments about the HMRC have been left out for
now, so we will move on to this case -- The HMRC are being accused of a
'Vendetta' operation against a London Warehousing Company, as one of its
directors suffered a mental breakdown as a result of their actions. The
seriousness of this led to an inquiry as to how much damages should the HMRC
pay? This is all the result of HMRC accusing the London businessmen of
evasion in respect of taxes. This scandal (little mentioned?) embellished
HMRC's reputation for buckling in the face of powerful interests (like that of
HSBC) and a perceived lenience towards rich corporate tax avoiders-- yet
maintaining an aggressive policy on smaller companies and people who they think
owe money.
The Directors had fought off claims they had evaded excise duty by producing
evidence to support this, and as a result, they went onto winning their
'misfeasance' trial because the HMRC had not been able to substantiate its claim
that the directors had acted fraudulently. The directors said that the
proceedings caused them great suffering in 2009 at the height of HMRC's push to
indict them and the Liquidators actions against Abbey, and that Rick Hone one of
the directors was sanctioned under The Mental Heath Act after trying to take his
own life. HMRC said (their Legal team of course), in their
usual 'we did no wrong attitude' we are carefully considering the Judge's
detailed findings and will make a decision in due course as to how the HMRC
should proceed!' (Feb 13/2015)

Note, There is much more to this case so we
urge you to see out the 'ABBEY v HMRC' case online and relative stuff to it
elsewhere via the Interweb.

Action for Misfeasance made against HMRC

The claimant alleged that
the defendant’s officers had deliberately and wrongfully withheld information
which ought to have been disclosed when he was prosecuted for VAT fraud. The
prosecution resulted in his conviction, in October 2003, of cheating the public
revenue. He was subsequently sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. In 2006,
the Court of Appeal quashed the claimant’s conviction and he was released from
prison. The Court of Appeal judgment (R v Sandhu (Monmohan Singh) [2006] EWCA
Crim 606) records the reason for the quashing of the conviction as being the
non-disclosure of information by HMRC. A retrial was ordered and was due to
start in May 2007. However, shortly in advance of the retrial, further
information was disclosed to the claimant, in respect of which the defendant (HMRC)
decided to offer no evidence. The claimant was acquitted and subsequently
commenced an action for misfeasance in public office in April 2013, almost six
years after his acquittal.

ps: sadly we cannot
update this case nor tell you if the victim received compensation from HMRC for
the years he wrongly spent in prison.

THE HMRC AND THEIR SIMPLE ASSESSMENT ON
PENSIONS OMIT THE 'ERROR' POSSIBILITIES

Those 'error' situations which are commonplace
to both the HMRC and DWP don't really get a look in here, or considered for the
moment as they claim the 'Simple Assessment' tax return system will give
pensioners what they want. According to figures put out by the HMRC on
this subject they tell us that 11 million people fill out a tax return annually
and pensioners account for 1.7 million of them. The report says that the
State Pension situation often complicates matters. The State Pension is
stated by the HMRC as 'a gross payment' meaning that it has not been taxed (as
yet) when it has been paid to the pensioner. The amount of income you are
allowed to earn (2018) is quoted as 11,850 pounds per annum....if your income is
over this (due to private pensions) and extra earnings from other sources this
will attract tax deductions which are paid through the PAYE system.
However it is also said in a recent change to pensioners finding they have
overpaid for several years and didn't know, that HMRC have limited the time to
only 4 years to claim back overpaid tax even if you've been paying too much
since 2000 or 2013 etc, your time has run out, and there's not much you can do
about it. While these changes appear to be good for the pensioner at a
first glance, it isn't much help for those errors that may have occurred, they
won't count.....and one account of a pensioner falling foul of this who has been
paying over for years to the tune of 17,000 pounds, will have to put it down to
a very costly mistake! (Sept 2018)

'Victim of sex abuse may sue the HMRC'

This case amazingly enough concerns an HMRC
worker who was dismissed by the agency for taking off too much time, read on --
After a sex abuse victim gave evidence against her attacker which involved
having to give evidence in court, was actually fired from her job. She was
as it says, a cancer survivor who was targeted by rapist Jason Okwara during
2004 and 2012. She was a 'call handler' at the Dundee Office of the HMRC.
She told reporters that at the time of the 'sacking incident' she had discussed
the matter with her line manager about needing time off to go to Court. It
appears that this line manager has no recollection of this? and the agency are
denying that they knew of this. She worked over two years for the Inland
Revenue. She is now seeking legal advice about her options of redress as
she feels the dismissal was unfair. The only thing puzzling here is that
despite talking to reporters, there is a 'censoring' of her name?
(27/1/2018)

'HMRC Fobs off taxpayers routinely'

In a report by the Telegraph, it revealed that
the HMRC were carrying out a 'dis-service' to those who pay their salaries. They
say that the HMRC typically ignores Rule ESC A19 and chases tax money it is not
eligible to claim. Even those who appeal using the Statutory Concession
A19 with legitimate complaints are 'fobbed off' by staff who make out they don't
know what they're referring to.
The ESC A19 is thus: 3 conditions -- the first being that the HMRC failed to
make 'Proper and Timely' use of the information provided to it. The second is
that the taxpayer 'could reasonably have believed their tax affairs were in
order' and thirdly, 'that no notification was sent to the taxpayer within 12
months of the end of the tax year in question?'
(4/11/2015)

ALAN AND CLARE HIGHAM RECEIVED A SHOCK BILL OF
10,459 POUNDS FROM THE HMRC FOR MONEY THEY DIDN'T OWE, WHICH WAS LATER DESCRIBED
AS A 'BLUNDER'

'Snooping and Surveillance by the HMRC'

A Report says that the HMRC refuse to disclose
how many times it had been granted warrants to intercept and read private
e-mails and listen to phone calls. The report also disclosed that 'covert'
filming had been authorised without being properly accountable. In 2011 it
was given 172 authorisations for direct surveillance to be carried out. It
goes on to tell us that the Government grants them extensive powers to snoop
using the 'Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and in 2011 the HMRC
were authorised to view 14,381 items of communication Data 'on taxpayers'
investigating tax evasion, compared with the 2010 figure of 11,513 items it
looked at then. The report also mentions that the HMRC did not respond to
requests for information sought by the Public and Journalists on this matter.

NB: There is another little known
Surveillance Act that is called 'Ripa' which is similarly used by Police Forces
and councils to snoop on the Public.

'HMRC Demand 5,000 Pounds from Retiree'

This section is rather longer as it entails
several items of unnecessary harm and stress to pensioners:

Adrian Davis 66, formerly with the RAF, was a
victim of a taxman's demand for almost 5,000 pounds, which the HMRC claimed was
unpaid taxes. This was followed by months of blundering activity by staff
at the HMRC and no fewer than six different tax offices who were involved in
sending out demands for payment, and almost all were incorrect. After some
outside help, Mr Davis finally got confirmation that the HMRC admitted that Mr
Davis should not have been forced to pay the money demanded at all, it should
have been written off when he appealed for exemption under the ESC A19 RULE,
which was either ignored or lost?

DUE TO HMRC INCORRECT CODES - Peter Patton 64,
suddenly got a demand bill for 10,459 pounds in 2009. This had come about
because over a six year period the HMRC had applied the wrong codes to his
income from a Final Salary Pension, and worked with a firm that provided care to
the severely disabled. He paid in fully unaware that the bill could be
challenged. In 2010 he was alerted to the ESC A19 clause. He wrote a
complaint to the HMRC, and it was rejected! He said the Inland Revenue
never drew his attention to the clause or that he'd paid out wrongly, and it was
only when Consumer Champion Jessica Gorst-Williams got involved, HMRC finally
owned up to its 'Mistakes and Delays'. Mr Patton said 'I tried to make them see
and failed to get any joy out of it until Jessica took over and got me what they
owed me.'

PETER ROBERTS was yet another to find himself
getting a demand from the HMRC for 597 pounds, to be paid immediately too!
Apart from the shock of receiving the bill he said 'I was amazed to find they
blamed me for the error, and penalised me for it'. Bringing a suitable
analgy to describe how he felt, he likened this to what they were doing, When a
shopkeeper makes the error of 'under pricing' an item he has to swallow the cost
of his mistake. He can't run to the customer months or years later
demanding the price difference, so why should the Inland Revenue be allowed to
operate differently?'

IN THE CASE OF Alan and Clare Higham
(previously mentioned), the shortfall was not the couple's fault, it actually
came down to an error made by the Pension Provider. HMRC refunded the
overpayments that they had been forced to pay and removed the outstanding
balance from their files. They apologised for the alarm and distress that
had occurred and measures they had taken, and admitted that it was their place
to pursue the Pension Provider instead, but failed to do so!

'Is there another HMRC deal scandal going on
here?'

It's not the first time we've heard of sweet
deals being made behind closed doors, so let us look at a report that has
surfaced on the giants of the Pharmaceutical Companies. It appears that
Charity Organisation Oxfam are saying that Abbott, Johnson and Johnson, Merck,
and Pfizer could be holding back around 124 million pounds of tax from the
British Government. It says or suggests that these companies appear to be
avoiding 2-9 billion pounds a year in taxes in nine advanced economies. So
where is the Inland Revenue in this? What have they got to say about
the 124 million pounds a year that the HMRC isn't collecting.......nothing
really, not a word!

'The little known puzzle of HMRC R & D Tax
Credits'

This rather obscure item on the Internet by
Robin Smith dated 30th of May 2011 may have some connotations one could describe
as devious planning by the HMRC. It tells of how he obtained a 'Payout Cheque'
from the taxman when he claimed tax credits for R & D, which he suggests is a
closely guarded secret. He also says this tax relief thing is largely
under-claimed, and he points to the 'R & D Tax Rule Book' which he describes is
a muddy complex confusion which businessmen fail to understand and arrive at the
decision it's more hassle than it's worth. Apparently, in 2011 the
Chancellor increased R & D Tax Credits to 200% and then again to 225% in 2014,
but who was getting this?

'Homelessness
because of the HMRC'

It's hard to believe that this government
Department can actually and deliberately disadvantage someone who has had to
turn to it to get help, but they can and do frequently as this next report
shows. This is but one of many as you've seen on this site, Sarah Reeves
was one of those people who needed help and had to apply for and receive tax
credits in order to live a normal life, but a year after doing so, she was
homeless and living anywhere she could with very little to live on.
She also had a young daughter of 22 months. She worked as a receptionist
for a firm in Wolverhampton and needed a top up to manage the mortgage to her
new place with her partner, and all seemed okay at first as the HMRC granted her
170 pounds a month, which they relied upon to make ends meet.
Suddenly one day, the nightmare arrived in April when the taxman wrote to her
and announced that her tax credits were being cut just to 12 pounds a month?
This they said was to make up for overpayments worked out at 3,800 pounds!
Panic set in and she immediately appealed against this, and their response was
to increase it to just 40 pounds a month. The couple began to get behind
with payments and the circle of woe began to take its toll, as her partner
couldn't face anymore financial worries and left. But this wasn't the end
to the Taxman's game, the payments were stopped entirely? and what
followed was the stick that broke the camel's back. They now demanded
18,000 pounds and said they wanted it quickly. This tipped Sarah
over the edge as she only had one asset and that was the house that she got a
mortgage for. But she felt there was no other option but to sell it....and
that led to her being penniless and on the street.
Much later, when someone took the time to investigate, it was reluctantly
revealed that the HMRC admitted that 'they'd made an official error' But
this was far too late for Sarah, she was a victim of a tax blunder that took
away her hopes and much more! (11/2/2007)

NB: This happened on GORDON BROWN'S watch!

'Discovery of letter reveals that the UK Taxpayer
pays too much tax'

This is not how the civil servants at the
Inland Revenue see it no matter what document was found, and this letter was
discovered by the Chief Executive of the HMRC JON THOMPSON. The revelation
that most 'self-assessment' taxpayers seem to overstate rather than understate
their tax liabilities is another 'nail in the coffin' of HMRC's plan to use
'Making Tax Digital' for individuals to reduce the tax gap. Such is the
truth of the situation, that Jon Thompson Chief Executive of the HMRC revealed
the discovery of a letter to MP's that clearly pointed to tax dodging is less
rife than previously thought by the HMRC. It actually showed that UK
Taxpayers err on the side of caution, inadvertently overpaying on their returns!
George Bull, tax accountant for RSM said 'Such is the truth of the situation,
the taxpayer is continually being seen as devious and up to no good by the HMRC'
(6/5/2018)

HMRC APPEAL AGAINST EARLIER DECISION TO ALLOW
TAX RELIEF ON NON-CASH PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS --- This is sketchy news just
coming in, which says they have been allowed to challenge an earlier
ruling....permission has been granted to appeal over blocked pension relief.
(August 13/2018)

NB This kind of action is typical of the HMRC
when it realises something may benefit the taxpayer, it has to be stopped as far
as they are concerned.

'Tax man sues the hand that feeds him'

This case that we pulled out of the recesses
of the Internet rather takes the mick out of anyone who has had a bad experience
with the Inland Revenue and its staff --- A Taxman for 26 years is actually
suing his paymasters, something we don't hear often. TAX COLLECTOR PETER
PHILLIPS of Hove, Sussex, is asking us all to believe he's some sort of hero and
champion of the people? (I think not), He says 'I am trying to get the
rules changed so everybody has the right to work until they are 65 if they want
to' Alternately, if they work longer Mr Phillips they put more tax cash
into the HMRC, and you already know that. So think about that when you're
on your white stallion and wearing armour that protects you from the wrath of
the pressured taxpayer when you sent out the bills. The HMRC incidentally,
are denying 'treating Mr Phillips unfairly? (24/7/2001)

'Savers accuse HMRC of contempt'

Many savers are experiencing a betrayal of the
HMRC after they found that the advice of topping up their pension isn't doing
what they'd been told would or expected to happen. Information and advice
from the taxman that led some to top up the pension are finding they're due less
than the full payout, and after making payments they're told they won't qualify
for any extra pension at all. This is the news Money Mail had to tell the
taxpayer and imminent pensioner. 'There's a lot of supposed to' said one
analyst. Money Mail's expert said that the taxman is unfairly pocketing
thousands of pounds from people approaching their state pension age!
What else did you expect from HMRC? (Oct 2017)

'Tribunal Judge Dismisses HMRC Argument'

TOOTH v HMRC in a landmark case --- Tax
Adviser Peter McMahon was asked to assist Mr Tooth in his tax matters,
particularly as they involved the Inland Revenue, and especially in the light of
what followed between Mr Tooth and the HMRC as it was not an enquiry into Mr
Tooth's Tax Return at all and became an enquiry into matters outside of this,
despite all information being included with the Return.
Not following an enquiry into the Return of 2007/8 appears to have been 'an
oversight' by the HMRC, and they used a 'blanket' approach to protect their
interest in all of the participant's potential tax refunds, namely issuing an
enquiry into something which was outside the business of a tax return, which
should have been the purpose of the enquiry.
When the HMRC finally realised what they'd got themselves into, they claimed
they were entitled to raise a 'Discovery Assessment' for that tax year on the
basis that a loss of tax had been brought about deliberately by Mr Tooth and his
Tax Advisers!
Even more alarming, things turned nastier during the enquiry as HMRC, without
presenting any evidence, said that Peter McMahon (a Partner in the Tax
Specialists firm Grunberg & Co) had lied and entered the information into a
different box deliberately to bring about a loss of tax. Their legal
argument seemed and sounded absurd, and led to further questioning by The Upper
Tier Tribunal Judges who were not impressed and expressed their thoughts on
this. Even when the HMRC lost in this attempt, they actually
chose to appeal the decision of the Judges! Peter said 'It appears in
taking this case, the HMRC has attempted to overrule the Law, which is wholly
unjust for the taxpayer.' (17/5/2018)

NOTE: This was the abridged
version of events, you can access the whole thing by searching for Tooth v HMRC
online.

'Echoes of the DWP Pension Robbery
visits the HMRC'

One could be forgiven for
thinking that they were partners of crime, and indeed they do stick together and
consult each other about claimants affairs, that we already know and can prove.
Therefore it is sad to see that they too are now focusing on the Pensions and
how to make things even more difficult for the taxpayer. A recent Report
tells us that the HMRC are raking in 660 million pounds from the new pension
limit so that the Treasury boost their funds and control the citizen even more.
On this site we have seen at first hand the dirty tricks these civil servants
get up to as tax officers....so let us look at what they are now doing. In
just ten years the Taxman is collecting a huge amount from two pension taxes
which collected 7 million at the beginning and that has soared to 660 million
pounds today according to official figures released. Limits have been set
on workers on what they can save tax free both annually and over their
lifetimes....and the threshold before paying tax has been reduced
dramatically.....in 2010 it was 255,000 pounds, in 2014 it was 40,000 pounds and
now anyone earning 210,000 pounds will only have an allowance of 10,000 pounds a
year tax free which is a blow to most pensioners in 2018, the only person this
will please is the Chancellor and tax authorities.......and that's a slippery
slope to slashing more off pensions. (29/9/2018)

PS A leading analyst on pensions,
Anthony Hilton, says that saving for pensions is inadequate among most people,
they'll just have to work longer, and that will be good news for the Inland
Revenue and Government who want as much money as they can from the taxpayer in
work and from pensions.

'Those fake HMRC refund e-mails that HMRC ignore'

You will hear the rhetoric from the Inland
Revenue will and have claimed these phising fake e-mails marked with HMRC on
them which offer refunds to the victims should be ignored, but research shows
they are doing precious little to combat this disturbing increasing ;crime'
which has claimed victims, and why is this so? Well, it's because these
victims know what the HMRC are capable of and they fear not complying with a tax
notification in case they get penalised or end up with a bailiff knocking on
their doors. They cannot distinguish between the e-mails not being genuine
despite the HMRC saying they never send notifications of refunds, the HMRC send
out a multitude of threats and letters that cause stress and much more, so why
should the victims believe in what the HMRC say...they should be fixing this and
going after the hackers and scammers, but they're not in a hurry to do that are
they?

'Contractor takes HMRC to Tribunal and wins'

Susan Whittaker, consultant, took her case
against the HMRC and two others, to the Central London Employment Tribunal
because of a 4,200 pound unpaid holiday pay. Her firm SJW Marketing
Solutions were contracted by HMRC officials who ran the Check Employment Status
for tax (CEST) tool to determine Susan Winchester's status, and the tool decided
that IR35 applied. Having done that, the taxman then forced her onto an
Agency's Payroll, a decision that could not be challenged! She said, 'I
just couldn't understand why somebody could make some arbitrary decision about
my tax and employment status on a brief over-simplified questionnaire that I had
no input in, and seemingly have no right to challenge' --- The
Tribunal found in her favour and awarded her a payout.
(24/9/2018)

'HMRC in seizing assets scandal'

To describe this as a scandal is not wrong no
matter how their well paid lawyers think, this procedure is akin to when tyrants
and Kings (and Barons) grabbed land and livestock so that they could not only
own these people, but keep them in a type of servitude. And all of these
measures were in fact taxes the King or Rich Landowners thought up in order to
distribute the wealth just one way, theirs! This is 2018, and it is better
known as the HMRC or Inland Revenue. A new Report out this month tells us
that there has been a significant rise in the number of 'seizures' by the taxman
in relation to firms who were unable to pay, or not pay on time. It says
they have seized assets from some 2,833 businesses last year alone, and this
figure has jumped by 45% from the 2016/17 figures. Apparently, the leeches
have made 69.7 million pounds by selling the business assets of companies.

HMRC
Must Do More to Restore Public Trust, Critics Say

"People are entitled to be concerned
about the tax system because it is not functioning as well as it might," tax
barrister Jolyon Maugham QC of Devereux Chambers told the APPG meeting. "The
worst [case] is that HMRC is failing to apply the law in an even-handed fashion.
It might be inconvenient for tax professionals to have to acknowledge that fact,
but there is an awful lot of evidence to support it." "We cannot know, because
[we] cannot see, whether HMRC is treating big and small taxpayers alike,"
Maugham said. "Whether suspicions of HMRC being 'strong with the weak but weak
with the strong' are founded in reality or not, we have to accept that people
are entitled to hold those suspicions because there is extrinsic evidence that
supports them." That people hold those suspicions is just as important, he
argued. "It is not enough for us to say, 'Well, you're wrong,'" Maugham claimed.
HMRC must "come out to meet these concerns," he said, but "what it does instead
is hide behind the veil of taxpayer confidentiality." The U.K. Supreme Court's
decision last month in the Ingenious case that off-the-record comments made by
HMRC personnel to reporters breached HMRC's duty of confidentiality will cause
it to "pull the shutters down still further," Maugham suggested.

AND HERE ARE SOME OF THOSE EXAMPLES OF
HMRC ATTITUDES: (As said by The Public Accounts
Committee.....these are but a few!)

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has refused to reveal how much it
has paid for multi-million pound contract extensions granted to Capgemini and
Accenture.

PAC slams HMRC for lack of accountability and poor prosecutions of wealthy over
tax avoidance

A
scathing Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report has criticised HMRC for failing
to be accountable on crucial problems such as tax avoidance, highlighting the
growing number of tax reliefs to the lack of disclosure over the scale of tax
avoidance – including a ‘woefully inadequate’ criminal prosecutions record for
offshore evasion and unacceptable poor customer service at the tax authority

‘However, HMRC is not prepared to provide a comprehensive list of
tax reliefs or to provide a definition of tax reliefs including those designed
to encourage behavioural change (tax expenditures)

In
2014-15, HMRC responded to just 72.5% of calls and over the first half of 2015
this had fallen to 50%.

HMRC’s customer service continues to be unacceptable, the PAC said, citing the
previous Committee’s conclusion in March 2013 that HMRC had ‘an abysmal record
on customer service’, having only answered 74% of telephone calls received by
its contact centres during 2011-12.

HMRC has consistently refused to set more demanding targets, however, and in
2014-15 it answered only 39% of calls within five minutes.

‘HMRC did not provide us with any indication of when or by how much its customer
service would improve, beyond a vague aim to improve year on year..

The above attitude is by no means
rare or uncommon and proof of the HMRC arrogance is not hard to find once you
know where to look, but even so there are still no signs of them heeding to PAC
or anyone else so long as they have the Tory Government backing them in anything
they want to do. Co-operation from them is minimal and in some cases as
you have already read, progress for a more open and accountable HMRC is yet a
long way off, and the next item shows you what one frustrated taxpayer was
willing to pursue in order to get a response which he felt they were bound to do
as a Statutory obligation:

24th Mar 2010 11:38

Serving a Writ of Mandamus on HMRC (frustratedwithhmrc)

After literally
months of frustration with HMRC ignoring letters, (allegedly) lost forms,
official complaints about poor service, lack of any action, etc I've finally had
enough.

Although nominally
the problem is being handled by the Lothians Tax Office, it is impossible to
actually speak to anyone there as all communications are routed to the polite,
but utterly useless HMRC Contact centres.

I have now reached
the stage where I can complain directly to Dave Harnett (as other channels for
complaints have failed) or use legal means. The option of going to the official
adjudicators’ office requires a letter of contention from HMRC which might take
another 6-years at the present rate of progress.

Another option is
to raise the matter with an actual HMRC Inspector, however once again I am
frustrated by the contact centres who cannot give out that information. I have
already spoken to my solicitor and he is prepared to serve a writ of mandamus (a
legal document forcing a government official to act), but needs to have a
relevant official to serve it upon.

[UPDATE as of 25th March 2010]
I have now been contacted by someone working for the CRM team in Glasgow who has
read through the notes regarding this sorry mess and concluded that there have
been serious failings to progress by HMRC and providing an apology and an
opportunity to deal with the issue prior to the commencement of legal
proceedings against HMRC Executive Officers.

Serving such a
writ would be like dropping a bomb on HMRC and (while understandable) is likely
to provoke a strong response from Bush House, home of HMRC Solicitors in London.

They are mostly
there to prosecute HMRC cases, but also serve in a defensive capacity as well.

Many thanks to the various replies. thus far. I understand
where "Bewgint" is coming from about thinking this thing through carefully
before "dropping a bomb on HMRC". It is just that the months and months of being
given the run-around from these folks over something that should have been
sorted a few days after the forms were posted is just unbelievable. It is
ridiculous that we've got to the state where we have to serve medieval legal
notices on our tax inspectors just to get them to do their jobs. However, the
truth (as we all know it) is that my forms are probably sat mouldering under a
pile of others on some low-level civil servants desk.

'HMRC fails to provide evidence in
Court'

Having brought a case against Peter
Jacks because they claimed he had filed a late tax return (Late Filing Penalty
Imposed), they promptly lost it because they failed to provide evidence for
their claim. Judge Geraint Jones Presiding, said 'Adequate proof is a
necessity, not a luxury, we do not consider that we can be, or should be,
satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that a notice to file was posted by
an officer of HMRC to the Appellant simply based upon the computer held note
'Return Issued Data' alongside which appears 6/4/15. Even if the notice to
file was issued on the 6th of April 2015 there is, quite literally, no evidence
or even any note to the effect that it was dispatched to the Appellant at a
specified address.' The HMRC on presenting the case had
already raised the penalty costs to 1200 pounds by way of their escalation
process at a daily rate etc, The Judge threw out the case brought by the HMRC. (23/8/2017)

The first and the most important thing is establishing the
facts. You cannot seek to apply the law without full knowledge of the facts –
and that applies equally to clients and taxmen.

Frequently this is not an easy task and it is not unusual for
important facts to be omitted. My clients’ typical comment is that “Oh, I
didn’t think that was hugely important”. But sometimes it is more sinister.
For example, on a recent Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) case, it came
out at the meeting that HMRC had actually withheld evidence from the taxpayer
and us. Indeed, this case is in Tribunal, and had diverted into ADR to clear
the ground, and this evidence was not available to the Tribunal either.

So, there is a world of difference between instances of
difficulty establishing the facts going from ignorance right through to
withholding of evidence.

NB: The Author of the above piece was with the Inland Revenue so
we are informed.

'Withholding and
Concealment is it a lawful practice that HMRC has been granted?'

We look at some
more examples of this practice which looks deceitful and in essence -
'attempting to pervert the course of justice!

HMRC concealing and withholding taxpayer
overpayments

1) Small Ltd company client was so worried about underpaying PAYE
due to the new penalties that she paid "over the top" amounts each month to
ensure she didn't underpay. 2010/11 P35 goes in, confirms £18,500 overpaid, and
HMRC sit on it without issuing a statement, telephoning the client or repaying
it. We do the accounts ten months later in January 2012, and find there's still £18.5k
overpaid. Another four weeks on, still not repaid despite being asked. If you
underpay PAYE for a tax year, you receive a statement within a couple of weeks
with interest added, and we're told that you're now subject to surcharges for
not paying PAYE on time.

2) Another PAYE client here - lady
plumber, in dire financial straits, overpays PAYE and CIS by £4,900 for 2010-11.
After chasers sent since May last year, HMRC promise to pay it once and for all
by 20th Jan 2012. We have tearful telephone call from client today (2nd Feb
2012) to say it hasn't arrived and she's running out of money. HMRC are
contacted and say "we've got a bit of a backlog and are just doing hardship
cases". This despite the fact that I said in my letter that the woman is running
out of money and very upset. Estimated repayment time? Another four
weeks.

3) A Compliance officer assessed a
client for £16,000 of tax for employees where P46s were held by the client,
but not submitted to HMRC, despite categorically stating in her letter that "if
we supplied personal details for the staff concerned, no assessments would be
made". Details were supplied, HMRC computer can't find the employees them so the
officer has assessed tax, despite her promise. Two layers of independent reviews
rejected our complaints with reviewing officer totalling ignoring that
this officer made an offer and subsequently reneged, instead concerning
themselves with the technicalities of P46 procedure instead.

Privacy International has been attempting to get blood from a stone; otherwise
known as getting information out of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. It has
wanted to know if Gamma International is being investigated for potential breach
of UK export controls. Gamma International, you may recall, is the company
behind the FinFisher surveillance malware. FinFisher is used by repressive
regimes to spy on political activists — and it is a stain on Britain’s
collective conscience that it provides the software that can lead to
imprisonment and torture. More than 2 years ago, HMRC told PI that it had no
power to provide information about its investigations to PI or any other
third-party. PI did not accept this, and went to court to force HMRC’s hand.
HMRC rapidly retraced its steps, saying instead that it chose not to disclose
that information, and doesn’t need to. Whether it must or not is an important
issue in itself. If an investigation is under way but HMRC decides not to
prosecute, that decision can be challenged via a judicial review. And we can be
pretty certain that PI would do so. But if nobody knows whether there has been
an investigation, there can be no judicial review on a failure to prosecute.
HMRC’s submission did not impress. The judge didn’t buy it. “If HMRC’s
submission here is that because it can argue that it is permissible always or
invariably to withhold information in the tax arena that the same can be
applied, mutatis mutandis, to the export control arena, then I disagree.” HMRC’s
position is, of course, further undermined if not totally destroyed by its
current plans to sell off our tax data in exactly the same way that the NHS is
planning to sell our health data. The impression we get is that of a government
agency so steeped in bureaucratic secrecy and so arrogant over its own power
that it believes that it, and not the law, governs how it operates. It is wrong.
“For all of the above reasons this application for judicial review succeeds. The
Decision of the Defendant is quashed and it is remitted to the Defendant to be
re-taken.”

'Barclays Bank defeats HMRC 'freeze'
Order'

When Barclays Bank refused to
co-operate with a 'freezing order' issued by the HMRC on a customer's account,
the two institutions faced each other in a hefty court battle.....where the HMRC
lost! THE HOUSE OF LORDS found in favour of the Bank in their appeal
against HMRC, agreeing that Barclays Bank had no duty of care to the HMRC when
it issues a freezing order on a customer's bank account until it confirms that
it will comply with that order. In essence, HMRC were making, or forcing,
Barclays into being liable for any movement of funds in the customer's account
without any prior arrangement to do so. The House of Lords had
reversed the earlier Court of Appeal Judgement and held that the mere service of
the injunction had not imposed a duty of care on Barclays unless there was an
assumption of responsibility by Barclays to the HMRC Commissioner.
(23/1/2006) (author Nicholas Ross Martin)

‘Cleaners win rights victory against HMRC over cut in working
hours’

“We hope the company is genuinely committed to meaningful talks
on this and other issues. And we hope HMRC and other government departments have
got the message that we will not allow them to simply pass the buck when
low-paid staff are being treated unfairly in their workplaces.”

Andrew Firman, employment specialist at Carter Lemon Camerons
LLP, said: “This is the latest embarrassing example of a large organisation
showing itself ignorant about the extent to which end users are getting a raw
deal at the bottom of a complex supply chain.

“Back in May, it was the receptionist at PWC sent home from work
for not wearing high heels and the Big Four accountancy firm sought to distance
itself from the employment practices of its outsourced reception firm. Now HMRC
are cast in an unfavourable light and it emphasises the need to both understand
the significance of public perception and to keep on top of the employment
practices of your suppliers.”

We now go onto the serious matter of
HMRC being contemptuous in Law, and does it flout it with ease?

In a recent Revenue & Customs Brief, 46/08, confirming that HMRC
have been granted leave to appeal to the House of Lords the decision of the
Court of Appeal in the Loyalty Management (UK) Ltd case. Within that Revenue &
Customs Brief HMRC make this statement: ‘
As we do not agree with the Court of Appeal’s reasoning and have appealed to the
House of Lords, we will continue to proceed on the basis of our view of the law
in relation to all parties, including LMUK.’
The question is whether by apparently ignoring the Court of Appeal decision HMRC
could be held to be in contempt of the Court of Appeal?

This is not the first instance where HMRC appear to be ignoring
the law. In the St Martins decision from the VAT & Duties Tribunal they are
reported to have said that if they lost the case they would not refund the VAT
to the appellant on grounds of unjust enrichment. In the very first paragraph of
the decision the Tribunal says: ‘This
was a somewhat extraordinary case. Although it involved only one relatively
simple question, the hearing took seven days. Notwithstanding this, and the fact
that we allow both Appeals, this is not the end of the matter. There remains
first the possibility that the Respondents will appeal against this decision,
and aside from that there remains the question of whether or not the Respondents
will refund to the second Appellant the sum of £1,489,362 which the second
Appellant has demanded under a Voluntary Disclosure. It was intimated at the
commencement of the hearing before us that whilst this sum would almost
certainly be refunded were we to dismiss the Appeals, if the Appeals were
allowed the Respondents would then consider whether to refund the relevant
amounts or to refuse to do so on grounds of abuse and unjust enrichment.’
To echo the Tribunal: that’s a somewhat extraordinary statement
for HMRC to make. Particularly in a Tribunal hearing. I don’t know what HMRC is
thinking. I know of no basis in law for the suggestion HMRC can refuse to pay
the refund. The problem appears to be that HMRC is unwilling to admit that it
got its timing wrong and thus missed the opportunity to prevent the appellants
from gaining from the avoidance scheme that they set up. Indeed the outcome of
the appeal is that because HMRC was out of time in issuing the assessment the
appellants could get back more than they would have gained had the scheme been
allowed to remain in place!

Contempt? Or above the law?

The answer may be both, as we've shown they
frequently withhold evidence in court, and in some cases, mislead the court and
pervert the course of justice.

'HMRC Lose yet again in another IR35
Case'

This is the fourth one so
far........The Inland Revenue remain unperturbed by losses in previous IR35
cases, and as someone remarked, 'unable to accept or learn from these defeats'
So at The Appeals Court they were yet again over-ruled after alleging a
violation. Mr Daniels business MDCM Ltd was set up in 2004 (with his wife)
providing management services to various construction companies. Mr
Daniels and his wife were the sole owners and workers in MDCM Ltd. HMRC
set up an investigation in 2016, and took it upon themselves to place their
contracts within the scope of IR35, and in Mr Daniel's case the HMRC laid out a
'hypothetical' contract based on their investigation findings. The Judges
at the Tribunal ruled that the hypothetical contract required by the IR35
actually showed that Mr Daniels was not in an employment contract, and allowed
his appeal, over-ruling the HMRC's decision. (May 22/2018)

'Court Victory for Hargreaves
Lansdowne does not please HMRC'

As per usual, when someone wins
against the HMRC, they want revenge and do their damnedest to challenge the
ruling come what may! This is a report of exactly that, because Hargreaves
Lansdowne gained a victory in the regard of tax against the HMRC. The case
report says that Hargreaves will now be going back to court because HMRC have
appealed against the court's decision, as they are appealing a multi- million
pound judgement on loyalty bonuses for investors. In March,
Hargreaves won on the question of 'discount tax', but HMRC have changed their
rules on returning discounts, and they intend to get their hands on the cash by
any means. (16/May/2018)

Win
for open justice as tax tribunal allows non-party access to HMRC pleadings

KPMG: Successful application

The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has “inherent jurisdiction” to give non-parties
access to documents, its tax chamber has ruled in allowing KPMG to see documents
from another case involving HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Judge Greg Sinfield, president of the chamber, said that having ruled in April
this year that the Upper Tribunal had jurisdiction, it was clear that the “same
requirements of open justice” applied to the FTT.

Judge Sinfield said that although the FTT rules did not “expressly allow”
non-parties to inspect documents, rule 14, prohibiting disclosure of specified
documents, did not suggest otherwise.

He
said rule 32(1), which provided that tribunal hearings must be held in public,
showed the “principle of open justice is engaged in the First-tier Tribunal as
it is in other courts”.

The judge said the
extent of the jurisdiction to allow non-parties access to documents was
considered earlier this year by the Court of Appeal in Cape
Intermediate Holdings v Dring.

In
his ruling, Lord Justice Hamblen gave a list of documents to which non-parties
should have access, such as witness statements, expert reports and skeleton
arguments or written submissions by advocates.

“KPMG was not a party to the appeal nor did it represent any party,” Judge
Sinfield said. “KPMG seeks the documents requested in order better to understand
HMRC’s arguments in the appeal which, KPMG state, are relevant to their
arguments in a different case in which they are instructed.”

Judge Sinfeld rejected an objection from HMRC on the basis of taxpayer
confidentiality under section 18 of the Revenue and Customs Act 2005. The judge
said this placed no restrictions on disclosure by the FTT, as opposed to HMRC.

He
said non-parties should have access where they had a “legitimate interest” in
the documents, which was a “broad” one and “certainly not confined to
journalistic purposes”.

Judge Sinfield said it was clear from the Court of Appeal’s ruling in Cape that
an “entirely private and commercial interest, such as an interest in related
litigation” could qualify as a legitimate interest.

He
said it seemed to him that Hastings Insurance was “really arguing that its own
skeleton argument should not be disclosed because its counsel ignored it in
opening and HMRC’s skeleton is irrelevant because the arguments in it were
largely abandoned by their own counsel”.

He
went on: “Those submissions miss the point. The skeletons were deployed by the
parties at an effective public hearing and read by the tribunal.

“There is no suggestion in Hamblen LJ’s judgment in Cape or in any of the
authorities that he refers to that the court’s inherent jurisdiction to allow
members of the public to have access to skeleton arguments that have been
deployed at a hearing and read by the court is restricted to those parts which
replicate oral submissions made in open court and which survive the hearing
intact.

“Counsel’s submissions often expand on or even differ from the submissions in
the skeleton, which is to be welcomed as nothing would be served by counsel
simply reciting the contents of a skeleton.”

Given that skeleton arguments often also contained points or arguments not
developed in oral submissions because they were conceded by the other party or
accepted by the tribunal without needing to be developed, not providing access
to them would mean that “the member of the public would not have a full and
complete understanding of the arguments deployed by that party”.

Judge Sinfield accepted the argument put by Hastings Insurance that a
“deconsolidated” version of HMRC’s statement of case should be used, to avoid
giving access to documents relating to a different, settled, tax appeal.

The judge also agreed that documents annexed to HMRC’s statement of case should
not be disclosed. However, he refused a request by Hastings that the amount of
tax assessed should be redacted, along with references to parts of HMRC’s expert
witness reports.

Judge Sinfield directed that KPMG be allowed to inspect the deconsolidated
version of HMRC’s statement of case, without annexures, and both parties’
skeleton arguments in the appeal without any redactions.

HMRC not only
targeted single mother, Debbie Balandis, but 'assumed' she had an 'undeclared'
living in boyfriend called Martin McColl. In the light of this they
stopped her tax credits even though she begged them not to do this as it would
leave her without money. Debbie herself and never heard of a Martin
McColl, and the tax people refused to listen. So, without consideration,
they stopped all income that was needed for Debbie and her 13 year old disabled
son. They ridiculously claimed that she was having a relationship with her
newsagent, the mysterious Martin. Their horrific gaff finally came
to light when it was discovered the new 'supposed' boyfriend didn't exist at
all, and it transpired that it had derived from the Post Office counter where
she went to draw her benefit, which was part of a shop group R.S.McColl Stores
in Castlemilk, Glasgow. Apparently, the HMRC
declined to comment on the case?
(30/9/2015)

'HMRC has long failed
to act with objectivity and honesty'

So says 'CONTRACTOR
CALCULATOR.CO.UK. who use the following headline on their webpage
'10 TIMES HMRC USED PROPOGANDA TO MISLEAD MP'S AND THE PUBLIC ON IR35 ISSUES'
They say that the Inland Revenue only want MP's and the Public to hear one side
of the IR35 story. It is certainly true that they are losing many cases in
appeal over the way they interpret a person's working status for tax purposes
using the IR35 to become an 'hypothetical' contract --- a supposition to make an
assessment? The organisation also accuses HMRC of making the opposition
appear immoral through false accusations --- and deceiving the recipient by
delivering a 'partly true' statement, along with 'Lying and Deception', telling
falsehoods. So, for more of this go to their web page.

'The 'Encrypted' stuff
HMRC don't want read'

On our travels
around the InterWeb, we obviously search out anything on HMRC and DWP as a
matter of course, and some of it is easier to find than other sources.
However, on occasions we do stumble on things by pure accident, just as we did
recently when we hit what could be termed as a 'dangerous' path that led us to a
folder containing 'encrypted information' regarding cases in court and other
departmental stuff. We should have stayed in limbo on that first
visit as our safety in such a zone was uncompromised, and we were lucky enough
to grab two encrypted documents which we will be working on with the help of our
techie friends. We mistakenly went for a second visit which rang 'alarm'
bells and we had to withdraw fast before it either 'bugged' us or tried to close
us down. So beware of this and tread carefully!

We shall be back shortly with another set of
cases that informs, challenges and scorns the integrity of the HMRC and an ongoing case that
involves the HMRC retrospectively 'stealing' back awarded tax credits from a
small businesses, and in the process bankrupting them, hence
forcing those claimants onto JSA and jobless market?

Here is one of those cases told by the Lawyer
who represented the man who had a small business concern, now no more!

HMRC Underpayment
Case is dropped too late, causing man to abandon his business

Our client owned a car-washing business, a trade which admittedly
is notorious for unsavoury practices, payment of below-minimum-wage rates for
workers, and breach of working time regulations.
We duly issued a Notice of Appeal earlier this year, and proceedings leading up
to it continued. We were given a date in September 2018 for the hearing.
Meanwhile, a lot of preparation had to be done, including documents preparation
of lists of documents, and witness statements and bundles.

We remained convinced of the justice of our case, based on the
lack of proof available to HMRC. Our client was adamant that he had done nothing
wrong.

The burden of proof was on HMRC to establish that he had had
breach the strict requirements in question. They had no solid evidence other
than vague suggestions that the business was unsustainable if run legitimately.

There were no opposing witness statements and no solid evidence
of what employees were actually paid and what benefits they received. We pointed
this out to HMRC, but their lawyers did not accept our position. With a month
left to the hearing, and after further correspondence, we suddenly received
notification from a more senior reviewing HMRC lawyer, who had looked at the
evidence which we had begged them to look at since November 2017. She had come
to the conclusion that this was a case which indeed ought to be ‘dropped’ on the
evidence. We were naturally delighted and sent a joint letter to the tribunal
withdrawing our appeal. Our client was very grateful at this unexpected and
amazing result. It was a pity that it did not come sooner. Our client had since
abandoned his business, because of his worries about the consequences of the
Notice and his ability to trade again, or register himself as a company director
at all. The consequences could well have been very serious. He was literally
sick with worry, and indeed was spending time living abroad, because a close
member of his family was (and continues to) suffer with leukaemia.

Kuldeep S. Clair

Consultant Solicitor and Advocate

20/8/2018

NB: Strangely enough, this is the
direct opposite to the Government's 'start a business' and get off the jobless
figures! Apparently they want you to run a business that the HMRC have
approved, and none other.

'Former Inland Revenue Taxman gets 4 years jail'

The former HMRC taxman GERARD GIFFNEY used his
skills in the Revenues Department to defraud the State of 112,000 pounds.
It was said in Court that he devised a plan where he asked a number of men to
sign blank tax forms in relation to 'relevant contracts tax' to claim cash back.
The documents known as RCTDC forms stated that they had worked on building
sites, whereas in actual fact, none of this had actually taken place. The
completed forms and bogus information entitled the men to a tax refund. Giffney
filed the forms and paid the men 'a few quid' as he put it. The men would
then receive cheques from HMRC of which they were entitled to pocket 20% and
Giffney then took the remainder for himself. The Loophole in the system
was known to Giffney and he was well adept to using it. He had previously
been working at the HMRC when he came under suspicion and was fired for carrying
out the scam or attempting to do it. He then went onto forming a tax
advisory company. It was said in Court that he had a previous conviction
from 1995 for fraud, and in 2003 to 2005 whilst working in the HMRC he appeared
in court for tax fraud. It says he was caught and arrested on a European
Arrest Warrant. It also says that he was convicted of 11 counts of tax
fraud and received a prison sentence of four years.
(28/7/2012)

HMRC sacks more than one hundred people this year for issues other than
performance (2010)

More than
hundred people have so far been dismissed from HM Revenue & Customs this year,
according to figures published in parliament.

The numbers
appeared in written
answers from exchequer secretary David Gauke. They revealed that 116
people have been sacked for reasons other than poor performance among 369 who
have been disciplined. Performance related issues have lead to the sacking of
294 staff

Last year
saw fired for 402 people for poor performance. Another 633 people were
disciplined for other reasons, among them 158 who were sacked.
Gauke was replying to a question from Tory MP Priti Patel about how many HMRCworkers
were sacked for errors. The department does not record ‘error’ as a reason for
dismissal.

'HMRC under
Investigation for Data Breach'

A subject
raised earlier, as it now becomes clear that the Government aren't particularly
strong on ethics or protecting the public in data, and only wish such protection
for themselves. This report of July the 5th 2018 only goes to show how
they get away with things. It is said that the Information Commissioner is
to investigate the Inland Revenue for breaches of the Data Act. They were
also asked which other departments were sharing taxpayers private information
data, but they declined to answer. They were however, accused of
'railroading' taxpayers into the scheme whereby data of a personal kind is
stored and used, some 5 million people is estimated at the present time, which
disrespects the Public's wishes of having a choice, which they are denied by the
HMRC, DWP and others.

The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) understanding of the laws
relating to IR35 have been criticised by tax advisors and legal experts. They
have expressed concern that the tax agency has misled the public regarding
off-pay rule legislation. The criticisms follow a leaked webinar titled
‘Working through intermediaries: implementing the IR35 guidance in the NHS”
delivered by MARK Frampton, HMRC’s IR35 policy advisor in September last year.

The hour-long webinar that was leaked to the Independent Health
Professionals Association (IHPA) may help explain the reportedly large number of
blanket assessments after the introduction of IR35. The practice has been
described as inaccurate and misleading resulting in the undue financial
suffering of the affected contractors.

According to Martyn Valentine who is the director of employment
status specialists at The Law Place, Mr. Frampton’s comment regarding employment
status is a cause of great concern. The guidance has been geared towards
assessing almost all NHS locums to be inside IR35.

The guidance to NHS trusts, according to Dr. Iain Campbell who is
the IHPA secretary-general, has resulted in rota gaps not being filled due to
the reduction in locums in hospitals. This has worsened the winter crises and
put patient care in danger.

A legal expert at IHPA, Stephen Mhiribidi, had stated that rota
gaps have been increasing daily and that most of the locums have been slow to
take shifts that involve a lot of travel, high accommodation costs,and
subsistence. In fact, some of the trusts have faced risks due to this practice.

In the webinar, Frampton has instructed the NHS trusts that the
locums would be subjected to the right of supervision, control, and direction.
This might have encouraged them to ignore statements raised by contractors that
control does not apply to their engagement.

According to Dr. Campbell, HMRC does not have a clear
understanding of control in the healthcare sector. He says that being a doctor
he knows that he is compelled to pass clinical judgements that are in the best
interest of the patients and not compelled by any law. The professional codes of
conduct mean that medical professionals are autonomous practitioners and are not
controlled by any legislation.

NHS Trustees were advised in the webinar that a contractor who
has an assistant to complete the work in order to pass the off-pay rule
substitution test. The statement clearly reflects that the HMRC does not
understand the case law and has potentially misled NHRC regarding IR35 rules.

HMRC UNDER FIRE FOR PUBLISHING MISLEADING
IR35 FORUM MINUTES

HMRC has come
under fire for claiming in the recently released minutes of its July IR35 forum
meeting that new public sector IR35 rules have been a success. It went on to say
that it “has no evidence of significant impact on attrition rates of contractors
working in the public sector.” James Collings, Chairman of the Association of
Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE), swiftly criticised the
minutes for not detailing a host of significant concerns raised at the forum
meeting. Emphasising that the discussion, which IPSE takes part in, is
designed to provide transparency on IR35 issues, he condemned the minutes for
omitting frank discussions raised by stakeholders about the negative impact of
IR35 on public sector contracting professionals Mr Collings revealed that he and
other stakeholders had, in fact, raised serious concerns about the damage caused
by the rollout of reformed IR35 rules in the public sector. None of these were
recorded in the official minutes, which, he said, were published without the
informed consent of forum members. 29/Sept 2017

PS: It would be
interesting to know how many times the HMRC mislead inquiries and other
situations they wish to damage!

'Ministers misled by HMRC'

This is a report we found
from 2014 in which 'HM Revenue and Customs wrongly boasted it was generating
billions of pounds in additional tax income for the Treasury' when in fact,
there was little or no improvement in compliance rates. The National Audit
Office said that 'errors' in the way HMRC's performance targets were set meant
that it repeatedly 'overstated' the improvements in the amount of extra tax
revenues that it was bringing in. Although the Audit Office 'accepted the
'errors' and use of 'inadvertently' being used as excuses, Margaret Hodge of The
Public Accounts Committee said that these resulted in HMRC misleading
Parliament, Ministers, and more importantly, the Public!

We consulted THE CODE OF PRACTICE
- CIVIL SERVICE to see how 'misleading' fits into their promise to the taxpayer
and Public and discovered the following: Section 2) demands that the
service acts with 'honesty, not to deceive or mislead customers, ministers of
Parliament or others. and a whole lot more (if you care to read it
yourself).

It is quite clear from our own
and the above examples, that HMRC have breached this many times and continue to
do so when they want.

'THE 2015 SCANDAL
Revealed on HMRC'

Apparently, this was said to be
the turning point --- this was a piece written by Peter Tickner in his FRAUD AND
CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC SERVICES article; 'Perhaps most damaging of all to the
reputation of the HMRC was to discover that they signed off the contract with
MAPELEY with an offshore company, which by its very nature was avoiding
paying UK Tax. That the Tax Authorities themselves should consider it
acceptable for the Government to enter into such a relationship beggars belief.
It was wrong morally, politically and financially, yet the HMRC top management
spent years defending the indefensible over it? This embarrassing business
led to the Treasury forbidding departments and agencies from entering into
contracts with companies based wholly or in part offshore for tax-avoidance
reasons.

We are now going to put the
spotlight on complaints against HMRC:

HMRC 'getting nastier' with taxpayers who dare to complain!

The taxman is taking a tougher stance, rejecting a greater proportion of
complaints about its conduct.
HM
Revenue & Customs is taking a more robust stance with those raising objections
about its conduct, by rejecting a far greater proportion of these complaints.

Accountants Saffrey Champness said HMRC upheld just 30pc of the 75,568
complaints it processed between 2011 and 2012, the last year for which full
records are available. This is a drop of almost 10pc, on the number of
complaints upheld the previous year.

This information, which was obtained under a Freedom of Information Act, shows
"that HMRC is getting nastier", said Ronnie Ludwig, a partner at the accountancy
firm. 2
May 2013

HMRC complaints shame: Just 1-in-40 unhappy taxpayers gets an
impartial hearing from officials who aren’t even allowed to accept emails?

·
Just one in 40 people has their case heard by an independent adjudicator

·
Experts say people often don’t know they have the right to escalate a complaint

·
Adjudicator says some are deterred because they cannot email a complaint

·
Tens of thousands of complaints about incorrect tax bills, codes and unpaid
credits are being thrown out by HM Revenue & Customs — and never investigated by
an impartial judge. Money Mail can reveal that just one
in 40 people who have been fobbed off by the taxman has their case heard by an
independent adjudicator.
Tax experts say part of the
problem is that people often don’t know they have the right to escalate their
complaint to the Adjudicator’s Office, where they can get an impartial hearing.
And buried in an official report the adjudicator says that many taxpayers are
being deterred because they cannot email their complaint. In
an alarming statement, it says that this is because HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC),
which funds the Adjudicator’s Office, refuses to cover the cost of setting up
this vital service. (August 2018)

MPs to probe HMRC complaints handling: 'I sent 37 letters and still no answers'

the taxman’s record in dealing with taxpayer disputes is being put
under the spotlight by MPs.

The Treasury sub-committee, led by former education secretary Nicky Morgan,
announced the investigation this week, inviting evidence on this and two other
tax inquiries.

The inquiry will chiefly focus on disputes
over tax returns, but there are many other occasions when taxpayers
run into trouble and disagree with HM Revenue and Customs’ calculations of what
they owe. Individual cases will not be assessed, but the inquiry will raise
questions as to the fairness and proportionality of HMRC’s response to
complaints.

HMRC’s
corporate culture to blame for poor customer service

The recently published Adjudicator’s annual report for the year ended 31st March
2018 and reveals that elements of HMRC’s culture impacts upon the department’s
initial interaction with taxpayers, their complaint handling and the action
taken following feedback given to it. This is demonstrated in attitudes towards
taxpayers, communication style and decision making. Surprised? No, me
neither. (
14th August 2018 Written by Andy Vessey)

The Adjudicators role in the complaints procedure:

Where
appropriate, the Office will recommend that HMRC pays financial compensation to
a taxpayer in recognition of the poor level of service they have suffered,
together with any relevant costs. In 2017/18 HMRC paid out £576,562 in redress
for the following:

Reason

Amount (£)

Worry and distress

22,020

Poor complaint handling

22,599

Tax given up

454,071

Financial loss

165

Costs

77,707

Tax credits have, for some years, been the dominant cause of complaints and they
formed 57% of complaints in 2017/18. Although the report does not provide a
breakdown of other areas of complaint, PAYE errors and Extra-Statutory
Concession (ESC) A19 (giving up of tax by HMRC due to their error) appear to be
popular

.The average time taken by the Office to resolve a
complaint was 7 ½ months. Whilst this represented an improvement on the 9.7
months in 2016/17 and is within their own performance objective of 10 months,
this still seems a long time for an individual to wait for resolution,
particularly given that they will have already gone through HMRC’s two tier
complaint process. For the year ending 31st March 2019 the Office has set itself a target
of resolving complaints, on average, within 6 months.

Shocking – 90% of HMRC complaints to the
Adjudicator upheld, (below we have obtained results of the
adjudicators investigations)

·
Shocking in a good way for the tax payer but appalling that they’ve had to fight
their case all the way to the Adjudicator. And what about those who, for
whatever reason, do not take their case all the way through the complaints
process. How big is that figure?
Of the 2,311 Adjudicator resolved cases 844 (36.5%) were partially upheld and
1,229 (53.2%) were fully upheld – At
1 April 13 there were 2,698 cases awaiting investigation. 1,131 new cases were
opened in 2013 – 2014 2,350 cases were resolved in 2013 – 2014 1,479 cases
were outstanding at 31 March 2014
Complaints against HMRC are
at their highest level since 2008. The tax authority handled 81,066 complaints during 2015/16

Data published by Citizens Advice earlier this year shows the number
of people seeking advice for complaints about public services has grown over the
last few years. There has been a 51 per cent increase between 2011-12 to
2014-15. The charity’s evidence shows people are struggling to access the
public services they need and then struggling to complain when they don’t.

NB: The information above
is indicative of their response to complaints, and in most cases they do their
damndest to ignore them completely!

Another matter that
infuriates the taxpayer is 'phone calls' which either comes as 'waiting for one
that never comes' and the amount of time and money a person (whether it be a
claimant or not) spends on the line trying to solve an issue that needs urgent
attention. We already knew that the HMRC often make things a lot worse and
often make the caller a scapegoat and promptly penalise them in the process, so
we are now turning to THE CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU who often monitor the
situation, and this next report is by them:

Thousands turn to Twitter to complain about HMRC phone lines

9 September 2015

Frustrated callers tweeted HMRC over 11,500 times in the last 12 months to
complain about long phone line queues.

New analysis from Citizens Advice shows people complained via Twitter about
spending an average of 47 minutes in total to speak to someone at HMRC.

While official figures suggest an average wait of 10 minutes, the study from
Citizens Advice shows many people are waiting longer.

One person tweeted they had tried to get through to HMRC on four occasions -
waiting an hour each time.

Reasons for calling HMRC include explaining a change in circumstances that will
impact on tax credits, for example losing their job or having a child, or to
clarify income tax payments.

A person’s tax credits won’t be adjusted accordingly if they can’t update HMRC
about their circumstances. This could mean they aren’t receiving all of the
support available or are being overpaid which can cause debts further down the
line.

A worker may not be able to file their self assessment return on time if they
cannot get through on the phone, and could face a fine for missing the deadline.

Citizens Advice carried out the study, which looked at complaints made to the @HMRCgovuk
Twitter account between September 2014 to August 2015, after people seeking help
from the charity had reported not being able to get through to resolve matters
with HMRC.

The charity helped with 295,000 queries in the last 12 months which could
require people to contact HMRC.

Three out of four of these cases specifically relate to tax credits, the others
include income tax, National Insurance Contributions and Child Benefit.

In addition, every month 67,000 people visit the tax credit pages of the
Citizens Advice website making it the third most visited section of the site.

HMRC phones lines are a 0300 numbers meaning calls are charged at the same rate
as a standard landline call and could be included in some phone package’s free
minutes. However if a person is waiting 47 minutes it could cost them £4.66.

The charity is also warning that the roll-out of Universal Credit and changes to
tax credits could mean waiting times will further soar as more and more people
try to speak to someone about their circumstances.

Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy said:

“People are paying the price for not getting through to HMRC. From fines for
not completing a tax return in time to under or overpayments for tax credits,
people can be left out of pocket because they cannot speak to HMRC on the phone.

“Work and caring responsibilities means not everyone will be able to wait for
three quarters of an hour to ask HMRC a question.

“We have consistently raised this issue with the Government. But evidence from
across the Citizens Advice service, and our new research, shows HMRC is still
failing to provide a timely service.

“There is already a clear demand to be able to speak to HMRC. With the roll-out
of Universal Credit and big changes to tax credits just around the corner this
is only going to grow. HMRC needs to urgently address the problems many people
are experiencing with phone lines.”

Citizens Advice advisers acting on behalf of clients also face long queues for
the intermediary line, which organisations like Citizens Advice can use to make
direct contact with HMRC staff.

Peak months for complaints via Twitter include:

·
January 2015 when income tax self assessments are due by the end of the month
(1,133 tweets).

·
June and July in the run up to the 31 July deadline for tax credit renewals
(1,443 for June and 1,128 for July).

1.The average call length was calculated by looking at all Tweets for
August 2015. The aggregated figures are for the total amount of time a person
spent on the phone, not the average individual call eg a person phoned HMRC
three times and each call took 1/2 an hour to get through was counted as 90
minutes.

2.The average call cost was estimated by using the cost of a call if a
person is on BT fixed line, no inclusive calls tariff which is 9.58pence per
minute to 0300 numbers which works out at £4.66 which also includes the 15.97
pence connection fee.

NOTICE-- Irritatingly, the HMRC like to
hide and prevent cases of misconduct coming to the notice of the public, SoIf you have a case similar to any
of the above, or you have been in a secret payout that officially gags you, let
us know and we will name, shame and tell the whole thing. HMRC have no
such gag on us, and their 'confidentiality' means nothing. If you know of
a worker or lawyer you believe is corrupt at the HMRC, any information on that
person, past, personal or present is welcome, contact us at
the following.
www.corruptionseeker@hotmail.com

We investigate State and Civil Service
Corruption/Malpractice, so let us know anything that will lead us to a case
being revealed.

More to come soon, we have a decent folder
still to process with many similar cases of HMRC corruption. Please note
that this is but a fifth of what is out there, much is withheld by the Inland
Revenue's 'In-house' gagging system set up by the government to protect the HMRC
and DWP.

THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF
THE ITEMS ON HMRC TO HELP ANOTHER WEBSITE PROVE CORRUPTION AGAINST THEM.

'SADLY, WE HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A SCALE OF
CORRUPTION ANYWHERE ELSE, THE CIVIL SERVICE IS RIGHT THERE AT THE TOP OF THE
LADDER, FROM THE GOVERNMENT MP'S TO COUNCILS AND THE WORKERS WHO CARRY OUT THE
DIRTY WORK. What we found was quite shocking, and unbelievably, the
workers have the misguided notion that they are not corrupt, and that is far
from the truth. The top of the corruption ladder filters down to the
workers who are a party to the crime, and many of them enjoy the power they get
from being under the protection of the Civil Service.

To show this, we're going to include some, not
all, cases of evil that are way beyond the imagination in what is laughingly
called a fair and honest society. And this will include fabrication of
documents, lies, using the law to benefit from ill-gotten gains, destroying
individuals and much more, all instigated by the laws they twist to deprive
others from their earnings, savings and property...and these will include
council lawyers (they will also feature in 'Featured Lawyers' for good measure).

'DWP AND HMRC IN 5 MONTH PENSION BUNGLE'

This article involves both Government
Department in cahoots with each other -- Both the HMRC and DWP have a hand in
this case and tale of woe, and it yet again has a victim. That victim is
Elizabeth Harper of Aberdeenshire who had to fight a battle to get her money
back after both parties left her without a pension for five months. She
even received a letter from the DWP that she would be getting her money back in
March, but this didn't happen. And to make matters worse, the HMRC told
her that they wanted her to start the process again? She said in an
interview, 'It was getting very difficult to pay our bills, yet there was
nothing we could do, they were just playing with our lives. It left us
very frustrated, and they had just forgotten that this is my pension they were
messing around with. I rely on that money and have a right to it, the
whole thing has been handled poorly. I speak to one person at the DWP, but
find they can't or won't speak on my behalf to the HMRC or tax office, so I get
left in limbo and suffer for it.' (12/5/2016)

NB The DWP lied here because we already
know in another case that the HMRC contacted the DWP with instructions on a DWP
claimant.

We begin that with this case:

'DWP Reduce man to nothing via health
decision, and take advantage of him'

What can you do when there has been such bad maladministration
that the the DWP refuses to acknowledge or reply to complaints.? After 3 years
of gross abuse while I had diminished responsibility from dementia it turned out
the diagnosis was incorrect and I recovered. The way I was treated while easily
manipulated was disgusting, I was put to forced labour. Tribunal judges ruling
was ignored, my pension was stolen from me . My benefit payments were stopped
without any reasons. I was left to starve, I was forced to abandon medication
and encouraged to become an injecting drug user. All to entertain certain
individuals. As I recovered and it was realised that I would be complaining, a
war of paperwork began designed to prevent me from escalating my complaints.
Then professional advocates began to write in on my behalf demanding
explanations for the way my claim was handled or why no assistance was offered
or why I was not identified as being vulnerable and doctors letters ignored.
These are simply ignored and usually followed by another bunch of fires being
being lit beneath me, to me either punish me or to give me yet another
complaints process to deal with. The latest Is that I am to be prosecuted for
fraud for failing to notify the DWP of a change of circumstances brought on by a
decision made by the DWP. They have also ignored a tribunal judges request to
provide paperwork he needed for my PIP case when the assessor lied on every
question including the reason I was making the claim. My case has been adjourned
3 times now and I have been housebound for over a year since my DLA was
transferred to PIP , the disability component of ESA has been cancelled because
it was an interim payment while awaiting my tribunal and they have decided not
to wait any longer but have still not responded to the tribunal requests for the
documents.
They have contradicted themselves on several comments and made illegal decisions
but will not reply to letters asking which one is correct or why decisions were
made with no intention of notifying me or with no options for appeal they inform
me that complaints have been escalated, 'when they have not' - in the hope I
will forget. I have had 4 consolatory payments for maladministration and
harassment but my treatment gets worse and they refuse to consider reparation
for actual loss as a result of their abuse of position. They even mocked the CAB
who said They had placed me between a rock and a hard place. They replied “yes
that is correct, we have."

We
have highlighted this case in particular as it shows the level of corruption
employed.

The next case has similarities, involving
civil servants, and one who was named.

Dear Mr Collins thank you for your
email and advice. In 2013 Mrs Justice Pauffley instructed HHJ Simon Oliver to
send my case to the Court of Appeal. Thereafter, a Government Agency placed a
conviction of fraud upon me, without a hearing, and with no rights of appeal! The conviction
of fraud was later set aside with an admission that the action had been
malicious. The Civil Servant responsiblehas been
identified, a Ms Z. CHADWICK, and her home address traced to the Bradford area.
Also in early 2013, according to a Metropolitan Police
Specialist Operations Unit, a Government Lawyer had requested the
Metropolitan Police to investigate me and make life difficult for me rather than
investigate me; the detectives invited me to meet them for coffee in London.
They also named the Civil Servant responsible.

(A section of the
Metropolitan Police has a very detailed in-depth knowledge on me, arising from
my previous occupation. )

.It is
puzzling that Mrs Justice Pauffley did not know that the Court of Appeal cannot
interfere with a patient certified under Part VII Mental Health Act 1983, it has
to be a nominated judge (J Mummary, J Moorebick, LJ Arden). That iswhy in
September 2012 His Honour Judge Philip Waller CBE (a nominate judge) instructed
that the files be sent to the Court of Protection in the instance and an appeal
filed at the Court of Protection, and not at the Court of Appeal.

HHJ Simon Oliver held in
2012/13 a Part 9 authorisation, which is not a Court of Protection
authorisation.

Yours respectfully, Leonard Lawrence

Diagnosed with moderate brain inquiry, I was made homeless and
evicted on to the streets, whilst lacking mental capacity.

On the 30 August 2012 His Honour
Judge Simon Oliver, Reading County Court, was entirely satisfied with what
had occurred to me, and wrote that I was well represented. I was under the
jurisdiction of Government Legal Services solicitor Helen Mary CLIFT
office of the Official Solicitor to the Senior Courts for England and Wales.

.There
are many, many others like me in England and Wales, including mothers and
fathers whose children have been taken and are threatened with prison if they
speak, like Tom Dobbie, Carol and Safia. Our homes are taken, like Carol Wood
and Anne Clark. Our assets are taken like Robert W, Colin B, Johnathan T,
Yvonne G, Lee G, also Scott. The police, all too often, take no action.

.Lord
Justice Sir James Munby, President of the Court of Protection, said that it was
a number of Government Ministers that were keeping the Court of Protection
secret, and that may be so. However, it is a few unscrupulous (having
or showing no moral principles; honesty or fairness) judges barristers and
solicitors that that are inflicting this suffering, like solicitor Helen Mary
CLIFT office of the Official Solicitor.

This man suffered
appalling treatment by the authorities, and most of it in secret for many years,
and the first case shows that this is commonplace in our society.

NB: One is often told 'its a one off', and we're
publishing two for you doubters, and we have others, so isn't it time you did
something?

'Civil Servant Spelling Mistake Ruins Family
Business'

THE CULPRIT, AN 'UN-NAMED' CLERK AT COMPANY
HOUSE completely ruined a family business employing 250 workers by one flick of
the pen or adding an 's' on the computer text. And yet again, he has been
protected by the organisation who look after civil servants for our conniving
government. There is no report on him or her being dismissed or suffering
a penalty. And interestingly, Companies House would not comment or admit
they were in the wrong again leaving that famous word 'error' to take care of
everything. However, in the High Court, the Judge ruled that the blunder
was easy to avoid, and awarded the family business owner, Philip Davison-Selby a
multi-million payout. Judge Andrew Edis said the companies house had been
directly responsible, and ordered the agency to pay for the damage it caused in
the six year battle the owner had to incur over this matter. The payout
was published elsewhere, and it mentions £9 million! probably all public
money. We also found out that lawyers for the agency delayed and made
things awkward for as long as they could, using misdirection and procedures to
achieve this for their paymasters in government.

'DWP and Government plan to decimate Benefits'

THE TORIES under May and Cameron planned to
lower benefits and erode them until they would no longer be seen as helping
anyone, and that has been their agenda and strategy all along. FRANK
FIELD former Select Committee Chairman has found the shocking truth behind the
Tories push for austerity in a document in The House of Commons Library which
shows that benefits for the UK's poorest families will have shrunk by nearly a
quarter after 10 years of austerity inflicted on them by The Conservative Party
under Cameron and May. It says that by 2021-- 37 billion pounds less will
be spent on working age social security compared with 2010. And amid this
continuing policy, rising prices and living costs have been on the rise with the
government paying no heed to it while they use Brexit to act as a smokescreen,
and Brexit itself has caused price increases and there will be more to come if
and when it arrives. But this won't help the Benefit Claimants because May will
continue ignoring them and slashing the budget further with freezes on it
according to memos leaked to us. Disability benefits smd Employment and
Support Allowance have already been reduced by 5 billion pounds (10%) so far.
Other cuts being implemented are Tax Credits by 4.6 billion pounds (and they
have plans to end these ASAP). Universal Credits are being cut by 3.6
billion pounds, Child Benefit by 3.4 billion pounds, Disability benefit by 2.8
billion pounds, ESA and Incapacity benefit by 2 billion pounds and Housing
Benefit by 2.3 billion pounds. They also have plans to remove the
OAP's free travel and TV licence, plus the heating allowance when it can go
through by using propaganda designed to upset the younger and middle age
taxpayers so that they feel it should go by quoting 'rich pensioners' and
finally we come across their 'only suggested piece that the State Pension will
be 1.7 billion higher by 2021' but that's all it is, there is no guarantee with
this, so it can be scrapped whenever they like, especially if Brexit goes wrong
and cost spiral...that's when they will say it not affordable...and what about
the Tories themselves? they will raise the spending budget, their
salaries, and say they are doing a difficult job and we all must pull
together!......I think you've heard that one before. (Frank
Field Article Sept 2018)

You might ask 'What are they doing with all of
these savings?' fact 1. You're not getting any of them, and your services are
still going to be cut!

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW THE GOVERNMENT CAN
BACK OUT OF A PROMISE EVEN IF IT'S IN A STATUTE?

Here's why -- An Act of Parliament,
particularly a Public Act, can be declaratory, when they don't make any
alterations to existing law. Parliament can rely on 'The Interpretation
Act 1978' which as some say is rather confusing and rarely clears things, so
much so that it is often found that statutes are not clear and the Court has to
frequently interpret them? and who will be the guide in this? yes,
Government Lawyers who will revert to some obscure meaning or paragraph
announcing that the Statute was not implying any guarantee and that under the
Security Act it would be folly to interpret it being a promise that could be
kept, or its servants held liable for any failure to deliver.

If you're not shocked at the way the DWP do
their business, you should be -- read on, Apparently the DWP broke its
promise to stop harassing a court witness in the run up to the trial.
Despite being clearly instructed by the police not to contact the claimant,
David, until the trial was over, they continued to threaten him over his
benefits, and also continued to order him to attend an assessment. A
Police spokesman said 'By continuing with their actions, they are wilfully
causing our witness's health to deteriorate and this in turn could potentially
compromise his ability to give evidence in the Crown Court Trial.'
The Minister for the disabled, JUSTIN TOMLINSON MP even threatened last year to
stop David's benefits if he failed to co-operate with the PIP re-assessment
provided by the DWP contractor Atos.
Quite rightly, Tomlinson was called on to resign in the Commons.
We don't know if he did, being a Tory, it seems unlikely. They just have
one agenda, pay themselves well, and make the less well-off suffer! David
has severe post-traumatic stress disorder caused by horrific sexual abuse which
he suffered as a child, which later brought on several suicide attempts.
The toll and stress of the the child abuse trial in which he was a vital witness
has not been easy, and even prior to this he was harassed over his claim for
'out-of-work' disability benefit employment, and received many threats of
sanctions, cut of his benefits, and this Tory Government say they are the right
choice for the people of this country? Think again idiots, vote them
out for good. (22/8/2017)

'Jobcentre Officer in £18,000 swindle'

DWP CIVIL SERVANT JAINE MILLER, was what could
be described as a trusted colleague in the Jobcentre who made sure the public
jobseekers etc, got off their backs and worked for their money.....except in her
case, she decided to take £18,000 of welfare cash to fund some luxuries.
In Canterbury Crown Court she was described as being a committed fan of West Ham
Football Club. She had begun claiming disability living allowance after
suffering from mobility problems. And she kept on claiming benefit, paid
regardless of her employment status for five years after getting better. A
jury convicted her after seeing a film showing her to be in good heath. It
was also discovered that she had debts of £100,000. She was sentenced to a
year in prison.

'Jobcentre orders man with MS to attend or else!'

LOUGHBOROUGH JOBCENTRE decided to flex their
muscles and exercise authority when implementing 'Compliance' in the case of an
immobilised man with MS. Civil servants at the Centre summoned him to the
Job Centre to discuss his benefits and getting a job. The man, Mr Nick
Gaskin, who could only communicate by blinking had been receiving disability
allowance. A letter from the Jobcentre said ' You and your personal
advisor will discuss the possibility of going into paid work, training for work,
or looking for work in the future' you have to attend your appointment.
(these are the usual threatening terms the DWP use and they all end up with 'you
will lose your benefit) The DWP after The Leicester Mercury
got involved, claimed there was a misunderstanding?.......they lie quite easily.

'Jobcentre Trio-plus in £1.7million Swindle'

Three Jobcentre staff got together with others
to defraud the DWP and taxpayer by creating bogus claims a court was told.
ANTHONY EKAJEH, FIAYO AKINWUMIJU and OLUFEMI KEHINDE were all jailed when they
appeared for trial at Croydon Crown Court. The Officer grade Civil
Servants made numerous false claims for tax credits, JSA and grants, while
working at the Jobcentre it was revealed. In court it was stated that the
gang had made around 1,767 bogus claims and walked away with around £1-7
million. It also stated in the report that several others fled before the
trial. (4/5/2012)

'The True Face of DWP Management'

This is a kind of 'Behind the scenes' expose
as we look into the case of a DWP worker taking the DWP to a tribunal. MR
BARRY CAULCUTT produced an e-mail to support his case, and it is a shocking
piece that must be exposed here too. The evidence he submitted was an
e-mail from an Operations Manager BEV LOVATT -- 'In my mind, scrap the
meeting, Let him whinge like crap and raise it in his ET (Employment Tribunal).
He doesn't deserve us to be nice to him.' this e-mail was to the Jobcentre
Manager EIDDWEN BORLAND, and she agreed in a reply e-mail. MR CAULCUTT had
worked at the DWP for almost 35 years! And the Jobcentre is - Caernarfon
Jobcentre. Incidentally, the next bit will alarm you more,
The DWP BARRISTER DAVID TINKLER revealed this, 'The private e-mails from Bev
Lovatt were not meant to be seen by Mr Caulcutt' and he described this as
unfortunate! (11/1/2017)

PS: Now you know the sort of legal advice they get, and
the tactics ot the DWP Lawyers who would have rather kept this a secret.

'Pensioner suffers for 5 weeks after DWP stop her
pension'

This is probably another case they didn't want
anybody to see or hear about, but luckily it surfaced. Showing the DWP in
their true light is often difficult to do because they have a system that works
very hard to cover up this sort of thing and when it does it is often handled by
several people who have been instructed to minimise the fallout and publicity it
might interest. This case is yet again truly dreadful, as it concerns a
widow of 76 yrs of age who recently lost her husband. The newspapers are
calling them 'Blundering Officials' but we here know more about these civil
servants than they think. Diane Geraghty found herself living on scraps
for five weeks, and they were from her husband's funeral meal. She was at
the time, on 166 pounds a week pension, but this suddenly stopped without notice
because 'someone' unidentified of course, marked her claim as finished because
she was dead'....and without further investigation or inquiries the DWP were now
no longer paying out, which is what they like. The frail pensioner felt
lonely and unable to do anything so she more or less went into hiding, and
didn't even tell her relatives what had happened. Mrs Geraghty of
Lowestoft made inquiries to her bank, and that was met by no success in putting
things right. She stopped using the phone because of the bill she feared,
which she knew she couldn't pay. She was frail and very frightened as the
weeks passed by, and it was only due to someone noticing her in the garden that
this case was ever brought to light, and it was David Kinsella 67, who became
her rescue and contacted emergency supplies from the foodbank and rang for help.
'This poor lady was in a right state, no money for food, or anything at all, in
fact, she seemed all alone in the World' he said, He then set about putting
things right.

And that should have been the DWP, who
have now paid her the arrears and apologised for 'the administrative
error'....and in another case we will tell you more about the so-called 'error'
and what the DWP will do to avoid it being 'unaccepted' as it rightly should
have been.

'DWP Pensions Officer steals £44,000'

CIVIL SERVANT CLAIRE WILLIS a DWP worker who
was with the Tyneside DWP Office in Longbenton, and was considered a trustworthy
colleague by others there....but, she was carrying out a scam to deprive the
elderly out of their pensions. She 'doctored' the personal records of a
chosen 6 pensioners and gained £44,000. Newcastle Crown Court jailed her
for 12 months. Apparently, she used the office computer to find pensioners
with a similar name to her own, and then altered their records.
(26/2/2013)

'Looking into the DWP Pensions Robbery'

This started with the Labour Government, and
was continued in somewhat secrecy! with the Conservatives who are currently
limiting entitlement and withdrawing as much pension they can from the taxpayer
by means of 'Assessments' and 'Mandatory Interpretations' that delay and in most
cases, deprive the pensioner and drive them to food banks, friends, and
charities for help. The Authority behind this, is of course, the DWP whose
evil and malevolent intentions pervert natural justice to an extremely immoral
depth of which they are proud to continue, and hide the real truth about
pensions and what they did! But we can expose this, and after
hours of research, tell you how they did this without making it a longer than
necessary story. We have the facts, so let us begin here..... The year was
1997, and GORDON BROWN was at the Treasury (and had with him a little known
group of advisors - The Hotel Group). Among this group was GEOFFREY
ROBINSON and CHARLIE WHELON, and they were not liked by other Treasury staff,
which led to a state of unease, and little did they know that this was to be
'Gordon Brown's Smash and Grab scenario' to plunder the Pensions Pot of the UK's
citizens and taxpayers. He immediately began with removing the Tax
Credit which Pension Funds received on dividend payments from companies in which
they were invested. Apparently, Robinson kept this highly 'sensitive'
proposal tucked away until it was suddenly announced in Whitehall.
Anderson (one of Brown's cohorts) had already tested some of this previously
with (Sir) PETER DAVIES, of The Prudential Insurance Group. When the
Dividend Tax Credit was stopped, they suppressed the facts from being made
public for several years (until 2007). Those at The Treasury and HMRC
argued that the value of the Pensions Funds would fall drastically, and went on
to predict a drop of £75 billion. Many thought Brown's plan would hit
private pension schemes and the self-employed, and it did! The
Inland Revenue told him at the time 'that abolishing Tax Credits would make a
large hole in Pension Scheme Finances, and it would need and extra £3 t0 4
billion a year to meet their commitments because any future pension benefits
would suffer! And as we see today, the DWP in the hands of the
conservatives are trying to slash tax credits and do away with them. It
was interesting to note the ED BALLS (Economic Secretary at the Treasury) said
the abolition of the Dividend Tax Credit was a good idea in a BBC Radio 4
interview, and he proceeded to get things wrong despite his claims which were
rejected by Lord Turner.
But nothing was going to stop this robbery of the pensions, Brown was adamant
that he was right, and that there would be no adverse affect on pensions of the
future. However, 11 million taxpayers with company pensions and an
additional 7 million with personal pensions were becoming seriously affected by
this. Even the Commons Public Accounts Committee issued a
damning report, concluding that The Pensions Regulator and the DWP were not
doing enough to safeguard scheme members.
Amid 'misleading official literature' being sent out, it was beginning to point
to the fact that the government's hard-line stance had backfired. Pensions
had collapsed for many and the subject of compensation had to be addressed
despite the government trying to ignore it. Being between a rock and a
hard place, the government (anxious to use the cheapest way out) offered
'limited compensation' in the form of an F.A.S. - A Financial Assistance Scheme
run by the DWP. The Pensions Action Group were not happy, especially
as it left many of its members out, and was only designed to assist a few
'hardship cases' and it was also inadequately staffed and resourced, and was far
too bureaucratic, resulting in applicants who applied for funds feeling
threatened and humiliated (something today's DWP rather enjoy and keep up as a
policy). ROS ALTMANN a Pensions Advisor to Number 10 made proposals which
would give 'victims' a better deal, but even these funds would run out
eventually, they were just a sticking plaster over a widening cut.
The Workers and their Unions were in anger mode, and they threatened the
government with Legal Action. They said it was ignoring part of the 1980
European Union Insolvency Directive, that required member states to ensure that
there are necessary measures in place to protect employees in relation to their
pension rights. The Government's efforts to appease things fell short as
usual, and the Government Ombudsman's report on the state of the pensions
collapse said 'This report is a damning indictment of successive governments
who, again and again, gave misleading information about the safety of pensions
and failed to protect the interests of long-term investors (the taxpayer), the
government is once again refusing to accept responsibility.'

PS: It may be worth noting here that Brexit
may remove that Directive requiring this government to protect pensions, and
that may be what this government is hoping, as it will allow them more scope to
destroy pensions and benefit from it themselves without legal sanctions?

'State Pension will fall by £1,400 short of
minimum income'

This new article nicely follows the DWP
PENSION ROBBERY above -- A recent (2017) report says the state pension is
to be around £159-55 a week for pensioners and that is about £8,000 a year, and
that is subjective to assessment, and many other factors the DWP are enforcing
so that they can lower the pensions bill.....and it was them along with the
Labour Government that plundered the pensions as we revealed. The figure
is £1,400 a year short of the 'minimum income' they've been 'kidding everyone'
about in their misleading statements. These figures have been
revealed by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Another Report
weeks before this said that this revised state pension leaves many elderly
pensioners in poverty, and the Government are trying not to address this at all.
A staggering fact revealed that before the collapse a worker could expect an
average of 60 percent of earning related pension, but that has fallen to 29
percent with this present government and they were the figures from the OBCD.
A third report announced that around a Million pensioners are relying on
handouts of cash from friends and family these days to make ends meet...the
report says that one in every nine senior pensioners require extra support and
its not coming from the government who callously point them to charities and
food banks.

NB: So heed what we tell you about the
pensions, read the above articles, and never trust this government to tell you
the truth.

'The DWP Pensions fiasco -- £7 to £230 a week'

Yes, more on that robbery subject of the
taxpayers pension pot that shrinks every time the Tories look for extra money.
A report we have unearthed from 2012 revealed that around 13,000 people would
receive a pension of £7 or less a week while an equivalent number would get in
the region of £230 a week or more. It says that the DWP are struggling
with the problem because of its complexity?

'MP's Pensions are invested in Jersey off-shore
trust'

Still staying on pensions, you may be
interested to know where these civil servants have theirs, and more securely
too. This report informs us that MP's have around £6.6 million invested
and put away in an off-shore unit trust fund in Jersey. It also goes onto
say that the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund as a further £6 million
invested in three US companies that have been accused of tax avoidance.
The pension fund said to have a total value of around £621 million in
March 2016 had £48 million invested in 4 property funds, three based in the UK
and one in Jersey.

PS. So there you have it, this lot took care
of their pension funds, and plundered yours while you were trusting them to be
above board and transparent!

'The Pension Robbery still goes on!'

Sad to say, The Tories are still pounding at
the pensions of the public, and a report out today (18/1/2018/) announces that
thousands of pension savers face a tax bill shock after new curbs on their
allowances. Yes, The DWP and HMRC work hand in hand, the two main villains
in this robbery on UK citizens. The report says that under new rules
brought in in 2017 the allowances will be restricted on how much they can claim
and save into their pensions. Experts have said that this new system is so
confusing that many people are likely to have inadvertently over-paid, and as
such will get an unpleasant shock as the deadline for filing tax returns draws
near. The first notice of drops in allowance were apparent in 2016.
Steve Webb a former pensions minister, who we will not vouch for as a good guy,
said 'this tapered allowance is one of the most 'absurdly complex' pieces of
personal tax legislation he has seen in years, and he goes onto say 'One of the
worst things about it is the amount you can put in to a pension this year
depends on your annual income, which you can't no for sure until the end of the
financial year.' But as we've seen above, the Tory MP's have their
pensions nicely tied up in off-shore accounts...good eh?

'The Pension System is in a crisis and the DWP
ignore the risks of a meltdown'

Playing fast and loose with the pension system
is something as we have already seen, and new articles which pop up every now
and then are showing that the Tories have no real plans to repair the mistakes
that the politicians have caused. POOR RETURNS ON GOVERNMENT'S PENSION
PLAN highlights several dangers for the workers. The report says that
workers earning the 'national living wage' could be left 'significantly worse
off' in retirement as a result of the government's pensions auto-enrolment
scheme, which was analysed by researchers. The President of Icas, Sir Brian
Souter who commissioned the research says ' The Government must look again at
the deal they offer to the lower paid. It can't be right that a policy could
actually result in the poorest getting poorer' 'WORKERS
'SHAMELESSLY EXPLOITED' IN PENSIONS MIS-SELLING SCANDAL' -- The Watchdog The
Work and Pensions Committee issued a report revealing that a major pensions mis-selling
scandal is erupting behind the scenes which highlighted the British Steel
Pension Scheme members being 'bamboozled' shamelessly by the operators.
They said that members had been 'exploited for cynical personal gain by dubious
financial advisors in tandem with parasitical so-called 'introducers'
they said the workers pension scheme created perfect conditions for vultures to
take advantage. Pensions are being ripped off, not only by government, but
private firm pensions being looted until they are no longer viable as in the
Carillion Scandal. 'WE MUST GET TOUGHER, SAYS PENSIONS WATCHDOG' somewhat a bit
late for many.

'Tory Government still dodge Pension Theft'

Despite the recent Protest of pensioners
gathering to vent their anger (October 2018) the Conservative Government ignore
them, and they are carrying banners saying 'THE GREAT PENSION ROBBERY' which has
gone on for years without anyone at the DWP doing anything about it. There
have been many players in this scandal such as OSBORNE and DUNCAN-SMITH who have
deliberately gone out of their way to put up obstacles so that they don't have
to address the situation. MAY throws out sound bites which mentions a
figure of millions, often told to them by an advisor in the Cabinet Office who
relies on her not to let herself be questioned over these figures because they
don't stand up to close scrutiny.....such is the Tory game of false pledges that
have no legal basis whatsoever, and that's why politicians can throw out these
wild statements with impunity......and as to the Pension question? that pot is
shrinking fast and the Tories already knew their plundering had done great harm
to a Nation's future long ago.

In the light of the pensions scandal, the
next item is very important to both pensioners and benefits claimants;

'DWP's hidden clause 'Deliberate Deprivation of
Assets' - a dangerous position for taxpayers'

We begin here by saying some of what we are
about to tell you is not available by way of a FOI it is deemed 'exempt'

This little understood clause that is used not
only for pensions also applies to claimants on JSA and other benefits. In
regard to pensions, they made great pretence of 'Pension Freedom' which the
public inadvertently thought meant they could spend or give away gifts and cash
and do a luxury holiday, buy a Porsche or Ferrari, without fear from either the
HMRC or DWP. But they were wrong, the government were not being upfront on
this at all, it was yet again, another Tory scam to look nice for voters,
especially old folk. They were ready to pounce and say 'it was a
deliberate deprivation of assets', and as such, your folly will mean that you
can't rely or fall back on the State to help you out, benefit wise or similar,
because they are ready for you!
They issued a little known DWP facts-sheet that said 'Your pensions pot, and
withdrawals from it affect entitlement to various income-related benefits,
including Housing benefit, Pension credit, and Universal credit -- under the
'Deprivation Rule' as they call it. If you spend, transfer or give away
money that you take from your pension pot, the DWP will consider whether you
have deliberately deprived yourself of that money in order to secure (or
increase) your entitlement to benefits. If it is decided that you have
deliberately deprived yourself, you will be treated as still having that money,
and it will be taken into account as income or capital when your entitlement to
benefit is worked out!
If you lose all of your money or have given too much away, and need government
support, you will only be allowed it if the government agrees with your
financial decisions? which means you having to explain what
you bought or did with your cash.
Relative to this is the connection of this 'Legislation' is that it affects the
jobseeker if that jobseeker was self employed with a business. We learned
of one who having signed on after his business was wound up, had to declare any
assets, bank account to the DWP (via the jobcentre) which led to a reduction of
his JSA allowance. He had already explained that part of his account was
an investment, and as such he had paid back the investor shortly after signing
on. Although he'd explained the money, they still assessed his JSA and
treated his claim as if the money was still there...almost disbelieving him and
using this 'Deprivation Rule' to cover what they were doing. He had to
finally fill out a statement form and get another bank statement, (his so-called
'Coach' said she didn't deal with that, but this was a deliberate fob), and even
though he had followed this, they rang him and told him to get the 'investor' to
confirm the amount in writing to them.
So, as you can see, this so called 'Deprivation Rule' gives the DWP such
intrusive powers that go way beyond reasonable or Human Rights.

(We'd like to thank the Newbridge Consultancy for their
help in this matter)

'MP's and Peers have links with off-shore firms'

Well, having seen the above item on pensions,
their off-shore interests is no surprise at this stage. The Report says
that Several Senior Conservatives, and donors, have been caught up in the PANAMA
PAPERS SCANDAL - the tax haven saga. They were reported by the
International Consortium of Investigative journalists to have secure links with
the Law Firm MOSSACK FONESCA, who had been keeping things quite secret until a
mass of confidential documents were leaked to the outside world. Names
like, MP LORD FLIGHT, SIR TONY BALDRY have either made denials or excuses, the
latter having stood down, LORD BAMFORD a major Tory donor denied having
assets in Casper Ltd which was registered in the Virgin Islands and these were
mentioned in the Panama documents...but they're all innocent eh?

'Work and Pensions Minister Stephen Crabb in
sexting scandal'

Former Tory leadership challenger DWP Minister
STEPHEN CRABB was having it says crisis talks with his family after being caught
out in a 'sexting scandal.' The married father of two had sent sexually
charged messages to another woman (unidentified) in the few days just before the
referendum. Apparently the woman became infuriated by his supposed
hypocrisy in campaigning to be party leader on the platform he was a devout
Christian and family values man. Shortly after the revelations he pulled
out of the contest for Tory Leadership.

'DWP and HMRC use outrageous Interference of the
Law to limit successful appeals'

In order to reduce the winners at Tribunals
against them. the DWP and HMRC set about making sure that 80 percent of
claimants would be rejected, and this was in their policy, not a public policy
either. Since 2013, both Agencies of the Government have stifled appeals,
and prevented such action by introducing 'MANDATORY RECONSIDERATION' as a first
step to secure their aims. This measure was a target to uphold 80 percent
of their decisions already taken were successful and never went to the Tribunal.
This step was not to be passed by any claim. Former Judge Henry Brooke
said this was 'An absolutely outrageous interference with the rule of law.'
The Mandatory Reconsideration enables staff to look at a complaint/application
again and have the power to overturn it if they think its incorrect. Which
means that they can select many if not a majority of Tribunal cases to be, and
turn them down in order to meet the 80 percent objective, which is what they are
currently doing...and these civil servants are not lawyers or members of the
tribunal. (16/5/2017)

'The Great Benefits Swindle 2017'

The swindle here is the DWP and HMRC, they
along with their Lawyers have developed a system which enables them to pay
claimants less than the 'official' benefits JSA award of £72. 40 (via the
Government website .Gov) or the £73.10 quoted by a Worthing assessment centre.
A rather false figure applying to the two. They use terms like 'This
assessment is based on how much the Law says you need to live on? The Law!
The Lawyers who signed to this are on more than a £1,000 a week. The
assessment jargon comes straight from the Tax people at the HMRC, because they
include things like 'We have used the tax years ending 2015 to 2016 to assess
your claim' and this is the problem. Some claimants fall below the
number of 'qualifying' contributions (N.i.) and the JSA allowance goes down to
£70 and less per week with no possibility of a top up (because they've removed
other benefits and installed decision-makers, the faceless ones. who can stall
you all the way to a Tribunal, which is often months down the line)...and that's
where the lie comes in as Politicians and civil servants promote the
illusion that all JSA benefit claimants get the standard rate, when in fact they
don't. As we have shown, one can get £73.10 and another £70.10, so which
one is the correct 'how much the law says you need to live on? clearly not
the second one as that falls short and therefore lower than what is required.
But you don't see these fat cat DWP Lawyers rushing forward to put things right,
nor the DWP civil servants, no, they couldn't care less. By taking away
the former standing 'rate' whereby all jobseekers got the same money, it now
varies quite a lot. But this was the Tory Government and their 2013
Benefits Bill and that horror smiling merchant Iain Duncan-Smith, who pretends
to be that 'all so fair minded person'. They passed this Bill without
arousing suspicion of their true nature to con and deprive the poorly paid and
benefits claimants who are bullied by civil servants across the country.
By stealth, they have cut legal aid and removed basic rights; legal aid is now
categorised with qualifying titles and money rules that have been drastically
lowered to floor level, whereby someone can only afford the cheapest of lawyers
or trainees to go up against seasoned barristers and solicitors paid by the
taxpayer, to fight and destroy the taxpayer, and they call this justice.
While increasing their powers to de-stable their opponents, the poor, they help
the rich to wield more power so that they become the decision-makers over the
poor. In 2017, the middle classes and rich have benefitted well by these
Tory actions, and to such a point that they care very little about the poor, and
this suits the DWP, the HMRC, and other departments who have very little
accountability and transparency, and in most cases, None!

THIS IS A SWINDLE TOO - so read on -
After frequent denials the DWP and Government admitted that Jobcentres set
targets to take away benefits from claimants. The report says Jobcentre
staff all around the country have been involved in a policy to remove people off
benefits by the method of 'sanctions' one of the most evil systems set by the
Tory Government. The staff were to remove people off benefits amid
pressure to meet welfare targets set by their managers the government admitted.
Had it not been for THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER, the government would have stuck to
their denials the whistleblower said who revealed to them that 'vulnerable
claimants were being tricked into losing welfare entitlements by Jobcentre
staff. They were given targets of three people a week to refer for
sanctions (where benefits are removed for up to six months).
Despite what the government has now admitted, former DWP MINISTER IAIN
DUNCAN-SMITH claimed it was all 'claptrap' and 'a conspiracy' during a radio
interview, that such an order was made.......which of course makes IAIN
DUNCAN-SMITH A LIAR and IMMORAL too. A union boss tabled a motion that
Iain Duncan-Smith apologise and own up on his return to the House, but this
minister made no such move, such is his arrogance. The Whistleblower
actually worked at the Jobcentre and he produced e-mails as evidence to the
Guardian Investigators in April 2016.

'DWP sends out leaflet with fictitious claimants
which was fake'

The Government admitted that they made up and
fabricated a leaflet intended for public consumption, which in fact was
deceitful, as the claimants with their photos, and statements, were untrue.
Their views shown, of the two bogus claimants, had been written up by the DWP to
fool the public into believing that the 'sanctions policy' was good and accepted
by the claimants, which was of course to deceive the public and deflect their
attention to reports appearing in the Press. Their downfall was the Press
who couldn't accept that these so called claimants were actually praising the
sanctions system, which didn't ring true. So they acted on this with
issuing a Freedom of Information request on this welfare leaflet. After
some time the DWP revealed that the so called interviews of the two claimants
were 'a fake' and that they had done this to merely illustrate the situation 'in
good faith' It was subsequently withdrawn immediately. The DWP made
no apologies despite breaching the Advertising Standards Authority whose rules
state that marketing material must not mislead or be seen to have likely done
so. Iain Duncan-Smith was in charge! No penalties were given
out to the DWP by the ASA...who's bed are they sleeping in?
(19/8/2015)

'Ignorance is bliss at the DWP'

We're often told by the DWP 'There's lots of
jobs out there' and claimants are told to keep applying for almost anything,
even jobs that don't suit them, because the government's attitude is 'lets get
them off benefit and into work' What they don't tell anyone is here in a
report we picked up on -- Many Jobseekers have to wait almost a month for
the interview process to finish which leads to frustration. The Job Site
Glassdoor did a survey of 700 adults seeking jobs through the Internet etc, were
frustrated about cancelling or postponing interviews, not having enough
information about a job and managers who did not respond quickly to
applications. They all said quicker decisions would help them in their job
search, but this wasn't happening with most of the jobs they replied to, and
that the Jobcentres said this wasn't something they could help with as it wasn't
in their remit.....'We just want you to apply to as many jobs as you can, that's
our part' said one officer wishing not to be known. (Sept 2018)

'Duncan - Smith is not the good guy he claims'

Under his review of the DWP as Minister, he
inflicted a charge on those that were stripped of benefits to fight the decision
in an appeals court with an independent judge present. This came as a
report that revealed that more than half of the 874,850 jobseekers allowance
claimants who had their benefits automatically stripped in the last year were
for low-level problems like missing an appointment at the Jobcentre. The
proposed charge which would hit 1000's of poor people relying on benefits, aims
to raise money for the government found in a leaked internal efficiency review.
The charge up to £250 to lodge an appeal at an Employment Tribunal would take it
out of reach of the many JSA claimants on a sanction -- and it was suggested
that Duncan-Smith well knew this, and that it was probably his idea to use this
as a prevention, and a stick to beat them with. Such is the Iain
Duncan-Smith ideology.' (21/2/2014)

'DWP in 'Dirty Tricks' row over abusive comments'

The components here are a warning about IAIN
DUNCAN-SMITH DWP MINISTER and a pc used for abuse next door to the DWP
Headquarters! The Dirty Tricks Mob are out and about in the halls of
Government, and everything points to a pseudonym being used by someone in the
Tory Party within the DWP. In this instance a row broke out over abusive
comments made to, and about a disabled MP. It arrived in the form of an
anonymous comment attacking a former Labour MP who happens to be disabled.
It was posted on the DNS website in response to an interview with Dame Anne Begg,
who lost her seat in the 2015 General Election.
Dame Begg was heavily critical of the Conservatives, especially the DWP Minister
IAIN DUNCAN-SMITH. She feared that the disabled would bear the brunt of a
new wave of benefit cuts to The Social Welfare Budget, and with a Tory manifesto
pledging to cut it further with another £12 billion of 'savings. Dame Begg
was a former chairperson on THe Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee,
whose reports held the DWP and Iain Duncan-Smith to account over the Coalition's
Welfare Reforms. She tweeted a link to the Guardian News on Iain
Duncan-Smith being re-appointed as Work and Pensions Secretary who would be in
charge of making sure that plans to cut £12 billion from the benefits bill would
go through under his authority. She added the comment 'Be Afraid, Be very
Afraid' It was found by the help of a techie, that the abuser
used a laptop computer to send the message from the area of the Methodist
Central Hall, which is right next door to the DWP Headquarters in Tothill
street, London. (22/5/2015)

'Former DWP Ministers could face a police
investigation?'

This directly goes to MP's IAIN DUNCAN-SMITH
and CHRIS GRAYLING MP and Minister who both ran the DWP. Both MP's are to
be looked at by the police after a complaint was lodged against both
politicians. This comes from the Police in Scotland who are assessing
whether to launch a criminal investigation into their handling of the nicknamed
'Disability fit-to-work Tests' Activist John Mc Ardle lodged a
complaint with the police in March against both ex-DWP Ministers, he accuses
them both of ignoring a coroner's concerns about the safety of the tests, which
are used to determine whether a disabled person receives benefits. He also
produced a list of suicides brought on by their actions and policies.
(May 7th 2016)

NB: Sadly, both of these politicians have not been
charged or taken to task, and the police dropped this on the orders of?

TORY TRANSPORT MINISTER CHRIS GRAYLING seems
to learn this term of avoidance well, and just as the rail fares went up he was
nowhere to be seen. Many see this as cowardly, but the government said he
was on a trip to Qatar....to do what?
The Transport Secretary's visit to Qatar and Turkey conveniently got him
out of the way of angry train commuters who on that very day faced huge rises in
their travel costs. But this isn't the first convenient disappearance,
commuters in the strike ridden south have had their travel disrupted for almost
two years without any meaningful intervention from Chris Grayling, he merely
comments on how awful it is and then no more, he's more or less allowed this
strike to carry on regardless. And as we can see from the above article he
was a DWP minister who did nothing for the claimants but make things harder for
them, much in the same way he's treated rail passengers on Southern Rail.

'Grayling is accused of Misleading the Public'

In a report on the state of the Railway, The
NAO accused the Transport Secretary of misleading the public when he gave
reasons for the cancelled rail upgrade. They said his explanation was not
the true reason when he said they would not be proceeding with three major
rail-electrifying projects following an investigation into the cancellation.
The National Audit Office said the reason was entirely financial!

'Grayling uses the word 'help' as he targets
500,000 for work at the DWP'

100.000's was the initial quote as CHRIS
GRAYLING MP was the Minister in charge of the DWP. He says he ought to
have had this job years ago. 'I shall break down Britain's Incapacity
Benefit Culture for the next three years' he said during an interview. And
in true Iain Duncan-Smith fashion, he said 'There are hundreds of
thousands of people young and old who have been claiming benefit for a decade
and a half' presumably written out for him by the usual DWP money men before he
did the interview and yet another statement saying this ' We shall be
re-assessing 1.6 million people over the next three years.'

PS. It's a pity all this energy was never put into
solving the Southern Rail strikes with has lasted well over 19 months,
especially as he's the Transport Minister?

'House of Commons and the secrecy over assault
case'

You should not be fooled by the 'Government
Press Office' and their statements of 'openness and thorough investigations'
these are mostly sound bites and insincere propaganda' thought up to pacify
onlookers. The report we feature here says that the matter was 'brushed
under the carpet' by officials at the House of Commons in a bid to protect MP's.
Lisa Whittaker a former Committee Assistant says she was assaulted by an MP and
then stalked by him. She approached the body who are supposed to look into
misconduct and found that they had little interest in the bullying and
harassment, and having reported it found that nothing was done. She
started working for the European Scrutiny Committee in 1993 and over the years
she was expected to tolerate 'low level harassment' as part of the job.
(October 2018)

'Expenses Scandal still rides on in 2018'

Once assured by the government that it would
be cleared up, a new report suggests that all that happened to it was 'the
carpet treatment' and a good Tory Brush! Apparently, The
Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is to be 'urged' to identify those under
investigation....but in the light of 'a review of the Commons Complaints
Procedures' brought in by The Conservatives, new rules introduced this summer
says that MP's accused of expenses fraud or bullying, 'can no longer be
identified' Therefore it is not surprising that
campaigners for transparency are calling this 'a Cover Up'.....and it was
noticed that a website which held a list of names under investigation just
vanished from public view on the day they changed the rules!
(18/10/2018)

PS: It comes as no surprise to find the
Tories hiding facts from the Public.......they once claimed to be 'Clear' and
'Accountable' this says it all!

'DWP at the root of many new depression cases,
and mental anguish'

Having carried out our own survey by trawling
through hundreds of blogs and forums involved with complaints and cases against
cruelty inflicted by the system that fraudulently claims to help, we saw a
familiar pattern of abuse and civil service 'You do this or?' attitude from
those who claim they are obligated to follow the Government rules, and claim
they have no room to make a decision without the authority of a line manager of
another department. We have cases on this site of suicide, and not all of
them by any means. We contacted a doctor who admitted that some of his
most recent patients were suffering moderate to acute depression due to signing
on at a Jobcentre where they feel intimidated and bossed around like children.
The latter being quite common, and again, we have many such selected cases on
this site of this happening. The DWP dismiss this out of hand and pretend
it is nothing to do with them, which is a typical Tory response to the
activities they back which is intended to demoralise the less well off.
One should always remember that they are the party of the rich, and they pander
to the rich and very rich almost exclusively. They were taken to task
several times over the 'Sanctions' but they are still there in the DWP policy
and they are being used to frighten, harass, and de-humanise a claimant who
either 'fights back' 'questions their authority' or 'does not co-operate
fully' On one case of a DWP compliance operator, she can be
heard saying' Well, if you come into the office for the interview, we can talk
about re-instating your benefits' no promise or guarantees. She says
'talk' and talk is cheap as we all know. Even if that interview leads to
the reinstatement of benefits, that will not happen straight away, we found out
that it could take up to two weeks, and that claimant will be paying a high
price both mentally and health wise in being 'accepted by this officer'
who in fact has breached this person's human rights. We asked the GP if he
passes on this alarming situation to the Government, firstly he said they
never ask, and then said he wasn't obliged to communicate privileged information
on his patients according to confidentiality and Data Protection Laws.
Having looked at this factor, we now understand why the DWP and Government are
getting away with what they are inflicting, and until the Medical Profession
stop ignoring this and launch their own official investigation, the Tory
Government and Civil Service will get away with abuses last seen in the war.

'Cease and Desist Order against the DWP'

We came across this amazing 'recorded
telephone call between a sanctioned claimant and DWP Compliance Officer, which
rather answers some of the above facts. We summarise this only as one
really must seek this conversation out and listen to it. 'Claimant Mr
Harper hands in a letter of complaint accusing the DWP of harassment against the
named DWP Ofiicer MARIE CLARK in Halifax. The incident is dated on the
Internet as 11th September 2014 (still relevant now). Mr Harper a
claimant, did not allow Ms Clark to enter his house, at which stage he said his
son was affected by her presence, because some of the conversation was done on
the doorstep. As a subsequence, she immediately instructed the Jobcentre
boss, MARCUS, to stop his benefits. Mr Harper then said he'd already
issued a 'Cease and Desist' order at the time he made a complaint to the
Jobcentre Manager Marcus at the Crossfield House, Halifax. She said she
was prepared to book him in for the meeting on Tuesday the next day when they
could 'talk' about things. Mr Harper said he didn't wish to have her at
the meeting, and said he'd still not been told why his benefits had been stopped
or sanctioned and wanted to know before being interviewed. Ms Clark said
another colleague would be selected, but at the moment they didn't have an
available date, and that colleague would ring him to fix it. Mr Harper
levelled several allegations against her, which sound a bit muddled, but it was
an intriguing conversation, and of course when you consider it, he's still left
without any safety or benefits until they, the DWP decide to lift those
sanctions...and as we've seen this could be weeks and it could severely affect
the emotional stability of a claimant...and one wonders how they're getting away
with such a thing in 2017/2018.

'DWP issued with notification by claimants'

In 2013 Claimant and Jobseeker Declan Heavey
found it necessary to challenge the Secretary of State IAIN DUNCAN-SMITH after
being ignored by the Bansbury Jobcentre who refused to give him reasons why his
benefit payments had stopped without any prior warning. Mr Heavey sent a
pre-action letter involving the request for a Judicial Review. He gave the
Jobcentre 14 days to reply before going ahead on the legal side of things.
He also made a MF47 statement. He says he only learned of the non-payment
of his jobseekers allowance when he visited his Building Society. Further
to this they'd lost their dwelling due to other reasons, and he was looking to
engage a solicitor to engage the services of Broadway Homelessness and Support,
to help him acquire a safe address. Upsetting as this is, it's clear that
the DWP acted without compassion or due process to him and his wife, who
informed them of their plight, and what they clearly did was let them down, and
it's possible they breached their care of duty in this matter.
(18/6/2015)

'Scottish Minister Alex Neil's fury at DWP
Bullying'

ALEX NEIL, Scotland's SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTER
came out against the DWP over the Case of STUART CHESTER who has Downs Syndrome
and cannot do anything for himself. It was revealed that the local
jobcentre and DWP were trying to get him on a work programme, and that it was
reaching the bullying stage. Stuart's mother, Deborah, said, 'The Tory
Government doesn't care that their system is killing people after their own
figures revealed how 90 people a month are dying after being declared fit for
work by assessments.' Statistics obtained from a memo said that between
December 2011 and February 2014, 2,380 people died after their claim for
employment and support allowance ended because of a work capability assessment
found they were fit for work. Minister Alex Neil is calling on the
people of Scotland to join him in his fight to have welfare powers devolved in
order to put a stop to vulnerable people being victimised and families put on
the breadline because of sanctions. (30/9/2015)

'Jobcentre Worker fraudulently claims £27,000'

DWP JOBCENTRE WORKER DENISE KELLY decided that
she would claim disability allowance, and made a claim that netted her £27,000
in payments. She said she had trouble walking and suffered severe
discomfort and had problems sleeping properly at home. But colleagues at
the centre saw her walking around the offices in high heels on many occasions
when doing her job there. She appeared before Liverpool Crown Court where
it was said she banked the payments over a five year period after making a bogus
claim in 2009. She apparently refused to accept she acted dishonestly and
only pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming Disability Living Allowance.
The Judge remarked that being in a Jobcentre she knew all too well what she was
up to. She was given a six month prison sentence which was suspended
for two years. (7/9/2015)

'Channel 4 Despatches show exposes the DWP
Assessors'

CIVIL SERVANTS of the Government and DWP who
assess disabled claimants, were caught out by the investigative 'Despatches'
programme on TV's Channel 4 who captured staff insulting disabled claimants.
The stark truth was revealed much to the annoyance of the DWP and Iain
Duncan-Smith who later resigned from the Cabinet and his Minister's post.
As the nation watched one assessor said they were earning up to £20,000 a month
by rushing through dozens of appointments. Liz Sayce OBE top executive of
Disability Rights UK was shocked to see and hear the rude and disparaging
remarks made by the assessors who should be treating disabled claimants with
respect. She also witnessed how the PIP system was being abused by the
assessors. These harassments were being carried out by CAPITA, the firm
contracted by the DWp who are desperate to reduce the massive £12 billion annual
disability benefits bill, and thousands of current claimants have had their
applications rejected. The PIP assessment is a 35 page questionnaire
document. The TV programme witnessed breaches of the Data Protection Act
by one assessor who was taking photos of the claimants details on the VU screen.
Capita were loathe to accept responsibility and said it would be looking into
the matter, and they would take the appropriate action necessary. (this
video footage etc, can be seen on the internet if you just put the subtitle in
the search box of Google. April 2016)

PS: Some eminent physicians watching
even questioned the methods and qualifications of the medical staff carrying out
the health checks.

'DWP's Contractor for assessments ATOS in payout
for Maladministration'

The DWP who took on ATOS under contract as
their benefit assessors, learned that the County Court in Huddersfield had
awarded claimant, Vanessa Haley, 5,000 pounds over 'A Dishonest PIP Assessment'
She told the Court that the Assessor had tried to 'impede' her entitlement to
the enhanced rate of the daily living component of PIP, by 'falsifying' her
assessment report. She said the Assessor 'constantly and repeatedly
ignored her answers and evidence' in his report and misrepresented what he saw
during the face-to-face assessment interview. The Court upheld her claim
of 'maladministration' against ATOS. ATOS
commented, 'We must reserve our position' The DWP declined to make any
comment on the case. (21/12/2017)

'Insider tells it like it is'
(Assessment Interviews)

November 08, 2017 at 12:05 AM

Subject: ESA Assessment

I
would like to make a few points. I am a telephone agent who answers the phone
for the ESA benefit enquiry line.

customer rang and wanted to add to his mandatory reconsideration he had done via
telephone a few days earlier so I sent the information to the Benefit Centre but
they rejected it despite the fact it included information about how the customer
was having suicidal thoughts.

customers are always saying the DWP decision makers written report doesn't
reflect what happened in the assessment room and I think I know why. The
healthcare professional (HCP) decides if the person meets the threshold for WRAG,
Support Group or not entitled to ESA so the DWP decision maker appears to frame
their decision around what the HCP has put in their report.

customers have been quizzed about their thoughts around self harm,
suicide...even though this is very distressing for them it has still happened.

we hear time and time again of people with very serious conditions being forced
to either make a new claim (sometimes these aren't accepted despite a new
condition or a worsening condition being evidenced...I saw one where the
decision maker didn't even ask for the evidence of the new/worse conditions, the
DM just threw it out straight away).

The system to get customers in to the WCA is flawed, letters/forms are always
going missing for various reasons. Some vulnerable people are bullied to let
people use their properties for drugs etc...they remove the mail and therefore
the customer loses their ESA for failing to attend a WCA. We need a far better
system in place.

The decision making process needs to be a lot fairer and not weighted in the
DWP's favour. (George Miller 2017)

'They lied about me over and over again'
(the DWP Assessments)

This person who wished to remain anonymous said
they suffered anxiety attacks, and this happened at the assessment (and pushed
the stress level way up). The Assessor was stone-faced and looked at the
computer screen most of the time I was there. Instead of questions about
my mental health, she ignored this in favour of my physical well being and any
problems I might have that could be relevant. I had listed several
concerns on the form but these were passed by and she did not ask any follow-up
questions at all. The result of the assessment led to me being moved down
from the Support Group to The Work Related Activity Group. So I rang the
DWP, and a lady there read out the judgement, and I found they had lied about me
over and over again. It said I had no serious problems or that I feared to
leave the house.....and I scored zero points! which has now forced me to ask for
a mandatory reconsideration with the help of my doctor. (10/11/2017)
and this was on the forum board.

The Forum closed on the 10th of November 2017,
and it had 2,827 responses from people going through distress or being badly
treated!

'Pensioner Wins against The DWP'

80 years old Eileen Knight fought hard against
the 'cruelty' of the DWP when they cut her badly disabled son's benefit
allowance. She had dedicated her life to looking after him; Trevor was
severely disabled and unable to read or write. From their Wigan home,
Eileen described the ruthlessness of the DWP as she challenged them over this
following an Assessment for PIP. The DWP following the report from the
assessor ruled that Trevor didn't have any care or mobility needs, and as a
result they removed his entitlement to benefit. Unable to accept this,
Eileen took the DWP to the Tribunal Court and fought in person to have her son's
benefit reinstated. The Tribunal found in Trevor's favour and
ordered that his benefits be restored as well as 3,500 pounds in back payments.
The DWP said they had no comment!

'Victims of DWP unlawful discrimination get
Payout'

In a High Court Ruling, two disabled claimants
were awarded payouts of more than 11,000 pounds because the DWP unlawfully cut
their benefits. The two men had their benefits cut when civil servants at
the DWP moved them over from the disabled status to one of Universal Credits --
and as a result, they both lost around 178 pounds a month. In Court, the
DWP agreed to refund the two men's lost benefits, 2,108 pounds for one, and
3,277 pounds for the other. One claimant in Hartlepool will also receive
2,650 pounds for anxiety and distress caused by the DWP, and a Cambridge
Graduate will also receive 3,240 pounds for anxiety and distress in his case
concerning this landmark ruling against the Government. Both men in the
case decided to remain anonymous; the Lawyers for the men said 'Both of our
clients suffered significant hardship because of the sudden reduction of their
benefit when they were transferred to Universal Credit. We hope The Secretary of
State will now without delay, compensate others in the same position and that
she will reconsider her decision to pusue an appeal against the original finding
of discrimination' (July 2018)

Sadly they haven't and Esther McVey feels she
has to wield the Tory Axe and destroy more people for her Mistress of 'Clear'
Theresa May.

'DWP loses Legal Battle after 5 years of legal
challenges attempting to cut benefit for 7yr old boy'

This case centres around a 7 year old badly
disabled boy and Vaccine Injury Payments, which the Government went to great
lengths to limit because of the cost. THE COURT OF APPEAL ruled against
the department in this Test Case, because the DWP had appealed against a Court's
previous order to pay the boy benefit, who is now 14. was awarded 120,000 pounds
in compensation at the time. Three Judges at the Appeal Court dismissed
all three grounds of the Government's appeal and told the DWP it now has to take
into consideration and account, the impact that disability has on a person's
entire life, and not just the impact it has on the individual at the time of
their claim is made under the scheme. (Which means they will have to
pay the boy regular benefit if they don't respond or ignore the ruling, they've
done it before!) (9/2'2017)

A Report says there was well over a million
calls to the 'Benefits Hotline' which claimants abandoned because people found
themselves on an 'answer machine' for five minutes or longer waiting to discuss
their claim with an advisor. It says only 12 percent of the calls were
actually answered by an operator and advisor. Which as Labour MP Jim
McMahon says, 'the sheer number of abandoned calls means that claimants are
giving up on trying to get through to the helpline and not getting the support
they needed as a result.' Figures revealed at 'Parliamentary Questions'
were that 1.3 million calls were abandoned between September 2016 and October
2017.

'Victimisation by Jobcentre - one man's story'

In fact, there are many stories and accounts
like this --- Brighton Jobcentre came in for heavy criticism when claimant Peter
Styles accused them of victimising him and making it harder for him to find
work. This happened after he was told to 'sign on every day' and he was
sanctioned and had his benefits withheld. Shortly after, he lodged an
official complaint against the Jobcentre and the DWP. Further to this he
took to the Internet and started a blog which attracted thousands of hits, which
came to the attention of The Guardian newspaper. Mr Styles revealed that
the jobcentre victimised him even though he had made 67 job searches in two
weeks. He was told that 'he would be forced to attend the jobcentre and
sign on every day' One civil rights observer said this was' a massive
intrusion into Mr Styles personal freedom, and it also breached the Human Rights
Act.' (Nov 2014) But the Tory Government ignore this,
and have plans to scrap as much of it as they can.

'Jobseeker's benefit cut because of attending
dad's funeral'

Provided by Scrapbook, an online political
blog, revealed that a man in Manchester signing on at the Jobcentre for his
jobseekers allowance had his benefits stopped because he could not sign in on
that day, were both events clashed. Ironically and rather spitefully of
the jobcentre staff, they had already received notice in advance from the
claimant. He informed them that his father's funeral was on the same day
he signed on, and would have miss it. But on his return to the Jobcentre
to sign on, he found that he had been sanctioned by them. Ministers called
for these penalties to be 'proportionate' but no-one was listening? not the DWP
anyway.

'Ashton Jobcentre stonewalls claimant'

This case reveals the tactics, lies, and
attempts by Jobcentre civil servants to hinder and obstruct claimants for
reasons they only know. The The report says 'The unidentified claimant had
been claiming ESA, but his medical records were said to be not received by
staff, and they virtually accused him of lying. He had the equivalent of a
Mackenzie Friend'. an advisor present, but they in turn were more or less told
not to interfere, and at one stage barred from entering the jobcentre. The
Jobcentre told the claimant he should now claim JSA, but the advisor told them
he was too ill to qualify as he would not satisfy the conditions. They
then said he should wait for his appeal on the ESA benefit situation yet he had
no money coming in. The man asked if they could refer him for food
parcels, but the jobcentre staff lied, as they turned to him and said they
didn't do referrals for this. The whole interview was negative and
obstructive said the advisor.

'We have no time to care say the DWP staff'

Despite there being laws in place on public
bodies 'having a duty of care' the DWP tell their staff 'you have no time to
care about the disabled or able-bodied jobseekers' according to an item posted
on the Interweb. That explains in cold terms what a DWP spokesman thinks
of their so-called customers. He added 'It is important we provide
an effective service to manage the scale of our business' Yes, that's how
they see it, and they're as ruthless as any other such Dictator in this
field.... but they don't have any money in it, all what they do and pay out is
the tax payers money, which they spend at an alarming rate, looking after
themselves. One Jobcentre employee said 'This kind of attitude to
claimants will continue presumably until the government finally finds a way to
end benefits entirely, at which point our sick and disabled will be left with
nothing!' (20/8/2016)

'DWP officer diverts £1,400 into her own account'

BARBARA JOHNSTONE civil servant, worked in the
Stockton Benefits Centre, where she handled the benefits and payments. She
appeared before Teeside Magistrates Court on charges of fraudulently obtaining
the money from the benefits of nine claimants. It was said that she made a
full admission about her offence. Sentencing was apparently adjourned to
another date. (December 2017)

'DWP run scam to get cash not owed'

It now appears that the DWP have shown how
dishonest they can be in full public view (or should that be well out of the
way?). Newspaper biggy The Telegraph, revealed that they have been asking
households to repay loans claimants never took out, and had no proof it ever
issued the loan in the first place. This as all to do with the 'Crisis
Loans' system they put into place to help struggling families who were unable to
meet the essentials and other bills. The report says that Telegraph
Reporters talked to two families who were being unfairly targeted by the DWP and
confirmed they had no loan agreement whatsoever. The Telegraph say they
have seen evidence of more such examples of this practice of demanding repayment
of a 'ghost loan'. (31/5/2018)

'DWP Play the Discrimination Game'

A report has exposed a particularly nasty side
of the DWP, and something the Tory Government were supposed to have legislated
against. Yet, behind the scenes and the civil servants offices within
those offices in Preston, Bristol, Newcastle, London etc, the DWP have
instructed its 'Disability Benefit Assessors' to discriminate against people
with mental health conditions compared to those with just physical problems.
It is suggested that this measure is so that they can reduce benefits by what is
known as the component method, which if it is torn apart, can leave the claimant
on the basic allowance -- which suits the DWP, Treasury, and MP's. Charity
MIND said this 'labelling' is an injustice and is very unfair to claimants just
managing on what they get, losing some of their money is the last thing they
want and in many cases they cannot get a loan or top up to make good the loss.
(14/3/2017)

'Whistleblowers in the DWP remain quiet and
fearful of colleagues'

At a time when we're being told that
whistleblowers are welcome in the workplace, this report shows that this is
unlikely to be so, especially with civil servants in the DWP, HMRC and other
Government Departments who often have a system of 'gagging' in operation.
This is a report of 2015, and one can see that its results are disappointing to
say the least. On looking into The Civil Service an 'Open letter' online
by the former Cabinet Secretary and Head of The Civil Service, SIR JEREMY
HEYWOOD, certainly reveals that he was quite aware that for every
'whistleblower' who speaks out, there must be others who, for various reasons,
have remained silent. He says they may have faced awful intimidation,
ostracism, or even that they may have been 'contractually gagged' by departments
in the DWP. He also went on to say that he realised that others may be fearful
of dismissal or other sanctions, and may be totally unaware of what protections
they have. Some he said, 'May see evidence of abuses, and prefer to turn a
blind eye because they don't know how to report it or who to trust in such
circumstances which sadly prevents an investigation.'

What he says here comes as no surprise to us,
and sadly there are signs that whistleblowers are 'thin on the ground' and 'rarely'visible!

'Watchdog in the Spotlight - are they selective
when it comes to whistleblowers?'

There is always a major question and question
to be asked when it comes to the activities of a Watchdog, and that is - 'do
they treat everyone the same and investigate regardless who has power? --
this report certainly highlights this conundrum, 'Watchdog faces
whistleblower test' This concerns whistleblower John Banarjee, a
Trader, who was sacked for speaking out against the Bank RBC because he dared
question the lender. He actually won against the bank at a tribunal and
the comments against the bank by the judge were forthright in that he said they
had fired him 'for making a Public Interest Disclosure' -- which in turn has
made the whistleblower provision at RBC come into doubt which broke strict rules
set by The Financial Conduct Authority which states that workers cannot be
victimised for raising concerns, yet senior staff at RBC were willing to break
this rule and went ahead and sacked him despite their claim to be transparent.
It is said that this incident now will put pressure on the watchdog -the FCA, to
take action against those who were responsible. Regulators are being
called to take tough action against the RBC.......so this remains to be seen?
(2018)

'DWP misleads The Select Committee'

'Quite
often really as we can testify to,........ The subject of sanctions is
rarely addressed truthfully, and the DWP made a claim to the Work and Pensions
Select Committee that these sanctions were 'applied as a last resort'.
M.Boyce in a blog dated 14th May 2015, says that this directly contradicts the
information to the Public.....and we here can confirm that to be the case as we
know one official representing the DWP was willing to enforce a sanction,
threatening to use it (abuse it) in a first interview with a claimant without
good reason. The whole of this document should be seen by M.Bryce, and
those interested should go to -- mmm.whatdotheyknow.com/request/dwp_misleading_the_work_and_pensions_committee

'Smell of 'Cover-Up' at DWP annoys the MP's'

Work and Pensions Minister ESTHER McVEY is
being called to answer questions by MP's of both sides of the House who require
a full explanation from the DWP in relation to WCA deaths cover-up. Two
opposition MP's are writing to McVey while a third MP is demanding a full
investigation into the matter and the ensuing possible cover-up over documents
linking the 'Fitness for Work' test with the deaths of benefit claimants.
Jonathan Bartley of the Green Party said the failure to be clear about (remember
Ms May and how many times she said 'clear') what happened with the documents,
had all the Hallmarks of a deliberate cover-up, which needs investigating
thoroughly. The Report says there has been a 'reluctance' to co-operate
and 'refusals' that cause alarm to those who see accountability being ignored.
(19/7/2018)

'Scots Lawyer sues the DWP'

There are many people online who are rooting
for this solicitor to 'hammer' the DWP, so we thought you'd like to know more on
this. The little gem of an article was discovered in a 'web fishing
expedition' so read on -- The Lawyer in question is a Mr Daniel Donaldson
from Glasgow who claims benefits for a medical incapacity which affects his
daily living. The report goes on to say that in 2013 the DWP awarded
him PIP but after an assessment in 2016, they stopped his benefits. Mr
Donaldson appealed to a Tribunal and on winning, they reinstated his benefit in
October 2017. But he declined this as it was unacceptable, partly because
he feels the DWP 'discriminated' against him on account of the medical
condition. The Lawyer told the local Press that he's suing the DWP for
4,000 pounds for disability discrimination. Another 275 pounds in bank
charges incurred due to the stop of his benefit, and a further 700 pounds in
lost Passport benefits. He has also named the Scottish Government in his
claim, because powers over welfare payments were devolved under the Scotland Act
2016. (30/4/2018)

'DWP warns Charity Contractors not to ruin their
'Public Image'?

What image I hear you say! However, in
an unusual and stupid attempt, the DWP have told Charities delivering the DWP's
400 million pound Welfare-to-Work Programme that 'They are not allowed to
criticise the government' according to official documents quoted.
They have stipulated and instructed contractors 'to pay the utmost regard to the
standing and reputation' of the DWP and ensure that they do nothing that damages
it, or harms the confidence of the Public!
Sadly for them, they're a bit late on that, we here feel that this all a loser
as the reputation they claim is in tatters, and if you're not sure then read
this entire page and back them.
(22/4/2018)

'DWP Pays out 26,000 pounds to 'singled out'
worker'

We now go into the HMRC for this case and a
worker sues them..... In yet another case of amazing stupidity, the DWP turned
on one of their own. BARRIE CAULCUTT revealed that he was treated
'mercilessly' by the Benefits Office in Caernarfon, Wales. In Court he
told them of how his life and health was ruined by the bosses at the Office who
called him a 'whinger' who didn't deserve to be treated nicely or otherwise.
The father of two, a disabled benefits worker, won compensation of 26,000 pounds
from the DWP. It was heard in Court that things began when he was moved
from the 'backroom' finance office to work on the 'frontline' facing claimants
who were angry because their benefits had been sanctioned. The
Tribunal found that the DWP had 'discriminated' against him by failing to make
reasonable adjustments for his disability, and their decision was unanimous!
(9/4/2018)

'Government study says Benefit Sanctions Don't
Work'

Not exactly mind-blowing, but late in
acknowledging even the possibility that claimants have said this over and over.
The Study published in September 2018, found no evidence that these draconian
sanctions actually work. This was quoted in their paper 'Universal
Credit; in -work Progression Randomised Controlled Trial' on the
Government's website on the 12th of September 2018. Apparently, this study
has been on the go for three years. It also said that the sanctions
'damaged' the claimant's relationship with the work coach. In addition it
also said that the sanctioning of claimants 'did not help motivate participants
to progress in work'........strangely, there was no ministerial announcement of
this?

'Data breaking DWP manager in DWP Payout'

Yet another in-house case --- A former DWP
worker, Aftab Marchant who worked in the DWP's Stockport Office near Manchester,
won substantial damages from the Government Department. He launched the
case because there was no other solution to his plight, after a 'superior'
official (manager), shared 'Highly confidential Private Medical Information'
with his fellow colleagues. He was shocked to find out in a moment of
trust, the manager had sent e-mails to another ten people making his health
situation very public in the office. Mr Marchant was claiming 50,000
pounds in damages for the breach of data. Mr Marchant's Lawyer said it has
been a very distressing time for our client, what the DWP did was an absolutely
unacceptable disclosure of private information. (29/5/2018)

Update.....Apparently the DWP has given this
manager 'an informal warning'

'Fines and Times of the DWP Agenda'

It's a known fact by now that instead of being
a welfare system, the DWP are more into intimidation, threats, sanctions and
fines --- so we've found out by looking at a DWP Outsourcing Company who carry
out the DWP Capability Assessments. A brave worker who looks non-too happy
with what he is called to do, says the deal stinks, and that in his job he
hasn't time to be sympathetic with claimants, because he is called upon to
assess 6 clients/claimants a day allowing approximately an hour each, and if the
company fails to meet the assessment targets, it can be fined by the DWP.
(whistleblower 12/11/2016)

'So called 'error' leads to calamity for disabled
by the DWP'

This time they are calling it a 'Major Error'
showing that they actually calibrate the error system within their own
organisation. The Report says the DWP error has left up to 70,000 disabled
people out-of-pocket by as much as 20,000 pounds each? This 'error' was
mentioned in a Parliamentary Report, and says it will mean a payout of around
340 million pounds in arrears will have to be set aside to make things right.
It mentions that these 'Underpayments' go back as far as 2014 when they messed
about with the Benefits Law in order to reduce benefit payouts in as many ways
as they could to reduce spending on services. Meg Hiller of The House of
Commons Public Accounts Committee described the DWP's response to its problem
with employment and support allowance (ESA) as 'blinkered' and wholly inept.
She added, 'It reveals weaknesses at the highest levels of management.'
(18/7/2018)

'DWP to be investigated over Claimant's Suicide'

This should be read by all who visit this site
for reasons that will become obvious -- The Report says that this shows
the conduct of the DWP Staff and Benefit Chiefs before and after the death of
claimant Jodey Whiting. The mother of nine had her payments stopped
because she missed a Health Review appointment. The seriousness of it
cannot be worse as she suffered from constant pain due to a brain cyst and
curved spine, which made walking very difficult. Jodey of
Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham. Her family have been informed by the DWP
that they will not only have to tend to the funeral, but will also have to wait
almost 16 MONTHS for the investigation and the findings report will take around
two and a half years to complete and be released.

It should also be noted that THE DWP
INVESTIGATE THEMSELVES much like the Police, which many feel is wrong and often
appears as a 'whitewash' or 'Cover-Up' It is one of the most
unfairest systems that is allowed to operate. You will not be entitled to
know the name of the person who contributed to the incident or what happens to
them, this is also protected by immunity....you also have no right to know of
any disciplinary procedures...this is yet again held in secret, and any
complaint is automatically referred to 'The Pyramid system' a tier system that
can have 7 to 9 floors to finally reach an Ombudsman... and even at this stage
you may find yourself cheated by this department that is 'Untouchable' and
'Unaccountable'

'The DWP Sanctions and Maladministration'

Misfeasance in Public Office certainly happens
in the 'sanctions' section of the Civil Service in relation to DWP officers who
misuse and abuse their position by using it as a weapon to disadvantage a
claimant. They are not as rare as the DWP will claim in order to misdirect the
public. It is often claimed the sanction is never used in the first
instance, and that it remains a last resort action.... but this isn't true at
all. One lone parent case we came across tells us she made her situation
clear when she signed on for JSA, making a point to have them aware of her need
to be at certain times dropping off her children for school and collecting them
later. And in complete contrast the Jobcentre civil servant set about
deliberately fixing her signing on time around the information the claimant had
given. This compromised her and she was late signing on, which resulted in
a sanction followed by two more? The first sanction was for 8 weeks, the
second sanction 2 weeks more, and the third sanction another 8 weeks...which
totals 18 weeks with no benefit. She says she was actually advised to sign
off and make a new claim. This didn't happen as she was now demoralised,
in financial straits, and fearful of signing back on with this benefits office.
This we can tell you is not unusual (as the song goes) as we already know of
another DWP officer who suggested to a new claimant of just 6 months, that they
ought to take the offer of monetary help from a friend (while job searching) as
it would get the DWP off their back and be the right solution for all concerned
and have the benefit of not having to sign on or be accountable to the State.
(see Rightnet.org.Uk)

NB -- Official figures revealed that 918,00
claimants were sanctioned by the DWP staff between April 2013 and March 2014,
nearly 1 million?

'Are the complaints to the DWP a 'In-House'
Joke?'

This subject is hardly talked about even
though it should be. The DWP tell anyone with a complaint about them or an
employee, should go online or see their Jobcentre first. This may seem
fair, but it isn't, because it is 'loaded' against the claimant, the DWP
investigate themselves much like the Police and other government departments,
and these (because of protectionism) often lead to a 'Cover-Up' or 'Whitewash'
However, if one begins the long journey to where? they are automatically facing
a 'list' of people who will try to put them off and intentionally derail their
complaint at every stage. They will get several phone calls from different
officials who will ask to go over your statement in order to see if they can
debunk any part or trip you up (so keep your statement precise and remember what
went on)...this is much like the Lawyer game of 'destroying the credibility of a
witness in court, not because their client is actually guilty, but picking out
holes to discredit your version and make you look a fool or a liar wherever
possible, which helps them get their guy off, and the Judges rather like this
game being played out, because it has nothing to do with justice at all.
You will if you have not accepted a lame apology and stuck to your account, go
all the way to the Independent Case Examiner, but do note, they cannot look at
matters of Law or actual Government Policy, and they won't look at benefit
decisions either.... so by now you must be asking yourself -- why are they there
at all? the simple answer is they can act as a 'rubber stamp deal' and
confirm you had a chance? the final door is The Ombudsman, but they don't
have a good track record of being on the claimants side.

What you get when embarking on a complaint is
mostly a section officer, a section manager, the complaints resolution manager,
a senior manager, the mystery 'Decision Maker' (and who knows what credentials
they have?) the Independent Case Manager and then Ombudsman, all there to
dissuade and make you back off at some stage....and even if you get all the way,
they lock you out of the process by telling you that you are not entitled to
know of any details of the outcome or whether the culprit has been
disciplined...you just get another person or maybe letter saying they
'apologise'......maybe you should have gone to the office and dropped your
complaint in the basket marked 'Drop all remarks and grievances in here on your
way out' --- someone will attend to it later!

'Denials by Jobcentre staff don't cut it"

The DWP continually spin results and
misrepresent the truth, using staff to cover-up the appalling mess that is
failing claimants. A Report reveals that some staff resign almost within a
week or month of working at the Jobcentre because they don't want to get used to
lying to people who walk through the door and sit in front of them explaining
their circumstances. Interviews are expected to be completed in 25
minutes, which isn't always possible (says the former Jobcentre woman).
Managers promise to make changes which never materialise and they put pressures
on staff so that they in turn feel stress and lose patience or even bully a
claimant who should get some respect, but one finds them easy targets and the
managers just look the other way...and of course you can also find that they
actually despise claimants and consider them as getting something for nothing.
She also said that you're encouraged to think of them making up stories and
suspect the claimant of fraud, and that is what one disillusioned worker
revealed. (July 17th 2017)

'Universal Credit runs into difficulty, and is to
be delayed'

After months and years to be told, the Tories
see trouble as disabled get payout for being 'underpaid' by the DWP mean
machine. News in says that it is 'Hit by Delays' which isn't exactly on
the button. Universal Credit has brought a lot of misery to claimants who
have seen their benefits not only delayed, but reduced because of Tory measures
and cost-cutting aimed at the poor and low-paid. One Newspaper claims that
a 'leak' reveals that the roll-out will now be pushed back to November 2020, and
the DWP deadline for full implementation is thought to be December 2023.
Even the BBC say they have seen the documents indicating this change to the
current policy, and as promises go, and they go mostly out of the window, the
Government 'promises' to spend millions on making sure the claimants do not
suffer hardship? (Oct 2018)

'More Pension woes for the worker as divorced
women are penalised'

The DWP and HMRC are having a whale of a time
with Pensions, it seems to be a convenient target in not only reducing
allowances etc, but to actually increase the government's hold on earnings and
savings. A recent Report says that divorced women are losing out on
pension money, and these may be substantial sums in retirement. This is
said to be happening because of recent changes on how pensions are being worked
out. Age UK Charity Director Caroline Abrahams says that the money many
divorced women are currently going without could make the difference between
having to count the pennies or being comfortably off in retirement, and these
recent changes have huge implications for them. (August 2018)

The results here are as expected, especially
with the Conservative Government. Having had to lodge a Freedom of
Information Request, has now revealed that this huge sum of taxpayers money has
been spent by the House Of Commons for 'silencing staff' with what is
termed as 'Non-Disclosure Agreements' that are specifically used for hiding
information, reports and outcomes of things the government does not want the
public to know. This was just for a period of five years, so you can guess
just how long governments have been silencing people while using words like
'transparent and clear' to fool the public into thinking they can be trusted,
which is contrary to the truth. The report says that officials have put up
excuses wrapped up in convoluted paper thin reasons why they were issued, but
those are expected. Gagging orders come in several forms and one must be
'non-disclosure' and how it is used by both the DWP and HMRC to prevent people
from seeing things that are often used to sidestep court cases and weaken any
claims against the government. Another 'gagging situation is Data
selection where the state allows no-one outside the Department to know about a
result of misconduct and Data Protection is used selectively which effectively
means they themselves try the case,( the one against them), and also judge the
evidence, but allow no-one outside the government to be involved. They
offer no rational explanation, but say that's how it is, and you can't do
anything about it! That's what they claim is democracy?
(25/10/2018)

'Many Councils are run for the benefit of those
on the Payroll'

Something we've been saying for a long time,
however, this gem has come from the often loathed MP DOUGLAS CARSWELL, who says
Britain is lacking real leadership. 'The Prime Minister Mrs May 'struggles
to give straight answers to some of the most basic questions of the day.'
Local Government is full of 'box-ticking' officials' Council leaders are
more focused on 'Compliance' rather than delivering something their constituents
need' 'Many local councils are run primarily for those on the council
payroll, not local taxpayers' 'Policies are shielded from accountability to the
public, at times it seemed to me as if every third-rate minister and
'over-promoted' council chief had a ready-made excuse to conceal their own
inabilities.

PS: THIS COMES HAS NO SURPRISE TO ANYONE WHO
HAS KEPT AN EYE AND BOOK ON WHAT THESE CIVIL SERVANTS GET UP TO. SADLY HE
MISSED 'ROBBING THE PEOPLE BLIND'

'Council Boss in £1 million Fraud'

At PRESTON CROWN COURT, not far from The Tax
People, Council Boss STEPHEN CREWDSON was convicted of fraud and laundering
money. Crewdson was said to be in a privileged position at LANCASHIRE
COUNTY COUNCIL where he was a Senior Officer. It was said in Court that he
used fake invoices and VAT returns, and went to great lengths to cover his
tracks. He arranged builders to bill the council for work that never
existed, and this had gone on for a period of five years. He was jailed
for seven and a half years for his part in a contracts scam. (Nov
2016)

'Council Fraud investigation nets council Boss'

The Report says that eight men including a
council worker are being investigated for fraud -- Council Leader GEOFF DRIVER
was among four men arrested in 2007 in a large fraud investigation concerning a
5 million pound tender awarded to a company called ONE CONNECT LIMITED, a
venture that involved LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL and BT. The Lancashire
Police Force say they have gathered evidence on three other men besides Mr
Driver (who denies wrong-doing?) September 2018.

'Councils could face discrimination charges'

A New Report says 'Councils refusing to take
cash or cheques' to pay for taxes and fines etc, it says 'by stealth' that
councils are imposing new rules 'forcing' residents to pay by electronic means
such as card 'swiping' and it tells us that Manchester and Newcastle are
refusing to take cash and cheques already. Local authorities are blaming
everyone but themselves besides 'funding cuts' because they can no longer afford
to have payments processed. Charities for the aged are saying that this
doesn't work for everybody and a vast number of elderly people do not have smart
phones and swipe cards, and that the so-called savings come at the cost of the
elderly particularly. Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said there are millions
of older people who don't bank online or use digital methods to pay bills, and a
digital default system will exclude them and their right to use coin of the
realm. (October 2018)

NB: The Discrimination Laws could well
define this as 'disadvantaging a person' by unfair means, and in Common Law
'Unreasonable'

'Unlawful Tribunal Fees were okayed and passed by
Lawyers for the Government'

It comes as no surprise to find that lawyers
for the Government were behind something that was unlawful, and that they hoped
it would not be challenged, and they almost succeeded in taking away the rights
of ordinary workers. And why did they do this? it was similar to the
legal aid situation, they wanted to deny as many people as they could from being
able to use courts and tribunals. These Government Lawyers knew all along
what this did and said nothing about it, because it was yet again another Tory
scheme to weaken the working class and poor. A denial to justice was
always on the cards, and the Conservatives were always the most likely of
nasties to implement such a policy and pass it through the law while no one was
taking much notice; just as they did with the benefits bill in 2013 which
impoverished many claimants who needed help. This Government favours
'secret courts' and restricted access by the public whilst at the time claiming
that we are all governed by one Law? That is how crass this lot are, but
we will be coming back to secret courts and what effect they have on freedom
later. Charges for going to a Tribunal were introduced two years ago,
2013-15 which required ordinary workers to pay fees to launch a claim, the
current government pretended this was to 'halt vexatious' cases against
employers (and themselves really). Many cases cost around £250 to launch,
and under the Government's rules and 'qualifying system' workers on the minimum
wage had to pay the fee if a member of the family had savings of £3,000, which
is incredibly low. Employees wanting to sue had to pay an initial £160,
and a further £230 for a hearing. Unfair dismissal cases attracted an
initial fee of £250, and a hearing cost of £950, which of course did exactly
what the Government Lawyers were hoping for, claims plummeted. Luckily,
this illegal rouse was finally tested in The Supreme Court and The Ministry of
Justice lost for the Government, and they were ordered to instigate £27 million
pounds in refunds to claimants who had paid the unlawful fee. These fees
dated from 2013, the same time the Government implemented tight rules on Benefit
claimants and amendments to that Law. Nobody was ever dismissed for this
act of lawlessness, not the Government or their Lawyers, they are technically
immune to carry out such crimes, and they know it.

'DWP spend £108 million of taxpayers money to
silence claims against them'

ITS ACTUALLY DWP AND GOVERNMENT to be precise,
they are spending a massive amount of money to fight claims from claimants who
feel they have been wronged by the state. Of course, let us be correct
here and say that the State protects itself first above anything else and the
citizen last. The Report says that they spent some £108 million on fending
off disability claims in the Tribunal Courts, a fact that came to light some
years ago. The report goes on to mention that The Ministry of Justice
spends tens of millions annually on appeals , and around two-thirds of this has
resulted in claimants winning their appeals. It says in an F.O.I. that
they spent £5.3 million on Mandatory Reconsiderations and appeals for PIP and
ESA. Neil Heslop, Chief Executive of the charity Leonard Cheshire
Disability said 'To spend this amount on admin fighting to uphold flawed
decisions that shouldn't have been made in the first place is staggering.'

'Unmarried woman wins battle against the DWP'

There are many battles to be fought with the
DWP with many more to come. This new win only goes to show how determined
the Tories are to defeat the public at any cost, and that cost lies with the
taxpayer every time. SIOBHAN MCLAUGHLIN won her case after a long fought
battle by the DWP, which is not uncommon over access to a Widowed Parents
Allowance in what has been termed a 'landmark case'. The DWP refused to
pay her the benefit because she was not married to her dead partner John Adams
who died from cancer in 2014, yet they had both been together for 23 years.
Due to the hardship and future prospects as a result of the DWP's decision not
to pay the allowance, she turned to the Court system and launched a claim
against the authorities for 'unlawful discrimination' and won that, only to find
that the Court of Appeal overturned the decision when the DWP's Rottweiler
highly-paid Lawyers launched another attack to get their way in this matter.
Luckily, she turned to The Supreme Court to have this looked at, and by a
majority of 4 Justices to 1, they ruled that the current Law on the 'Allowance'
was 'incompatible' with Human Rights Legislation.

NBIt's strange that these top brass
overpaid Lawyers for the DWP didn't know or find that? we think they
already knew and were not prepared to go down that lane and head into court in
the hope they could derail the Justices or bamboozle the case so that they'd
win.

THE DWP said that this ruling does not change
their current rules on eligibility to the allowance for receiving bereavement
benefits! (31/8/2018)

'Civil Servant of DWP is jailed for stealing'

ABIGAIL McCLELLAND was found guilty of
stealing £55,000 from the taxpayer whilst working at the DWP in Lisahelly near
Derry. It was said in Court that she transferred benefit payments into her
own bank account during 2009 and 2011. The offence was discovered in an
audit at the DWP Office where she worked as an Administrative Assistant on
Benefit Claims. The Judge at Derry Crown Court said the seriousness of the
case developed when she went beyond her debts and spent the money on cars, white
goods, decorating and general items. The Judge jailed her for 15 months.
(1/2/2013)

'FOIA Requests and DWP Resistance'

DWP respond to letter of 29th July 2016, and
refused to provide the requested information sought. The DWP cited Section
14 (2) and stated that a public body is 'not obliged to comply with a request
for information' The Complainant had requested an
Internal Review and requested to know all data the DWP had on him, and was being
held. In the next move after it looked likely that they would have to
comply, it changed its mind, or Lawyers did? and substituted the following
response, and that was they were now using Section 14 (1) in a bid to close the
request down knowing this could no longer be challenged or appealed against.
What they were doing here was and is downright unfair to common justice, because
using (1) was a vexatious clause that has wide interpretation, which allows the
DWP to get out of anything it does not want to answer, and it can use this even
when no such state exists, all they have to do is use it to silence or
intimidate investigations into its decisions.

'Data Protection Law failings attract doubling of
complaints'

THE GOVERNMENT would have everyone believe
that being on line is as safe as houses, and they aren't particularly safe where
the government is involved. Data breaches are spiralling out of control
with banks being targeted by hackers, as are the Web giants like Facebook where
50 million accounts were compromised recently. Even the DWP have lost
vital data several times concerning people and claimants, and they still push
out the same thing that they can't discuss things because of Data Law when it is
actually failing very badly. This Law introduced to crack down on privacy is now
attracting twice the number of complaints since it began. New laws were
designed to give people more security and assurance along with control and
access to their personal data collected from them with more transparency and the
threat of larger fines for those who breach them. According to ICO the
UK's data watchdog, 3,098 complaints were made in June, and 4,214 in July...up
from 2,310 made in May...whereas earlier April showed that only 2,165 complaints
were received. The ICO said they were expecting it to rise due to the fact
that data is being leaked and used by unauthorised persons despite security
technology.

'Jobcentre disclosure leads to discrimination
case in court'

A Court ruled that a 44 year old woman was
'discriminated' against by staff at a Jobcentre who disclosed the former gender
of a trans claimant who did not wish these personal facts to be known on the
open public floor of the centre. The woman found herself having to argue
the point with Jobcentre staff who continued to brush this aside. In The
High Court, the Judge said it was irrelevant for the staff to know her former
gender. The Judge found that the DWP was in clear breach of her privacy
rights, and they couldn't and shouldn't disclose such information without the
consent of the claimant, despite the DWP claiming it held the right to demand
all details on a claimant. (July 2014)

'DWP officer dishonestly diverts Benefit
Payments'

CIVIL SERVANT EMILY NORMAN, who worked at The
Wirral Jobcentre, appeared before the Wirral Magistrates for stealing £1,845
over four occasions and putting the money into her own bank account. The
benefit payments of JSA were taken in amounts ranging from £188 TO £735 at a
time. She was convicted of dishonesty and the fraudulent transfer of
public funds. Sentencing was adjourned. (July 2014)

'DWP go back on help for funeral costs for
grieving couple'

The report says the DWP primarily agreed to
help a couple, and then went back on it. The official line from them is
that they changed their decision to hepl the grieving couple with funeral costs
for their baby who died shortly after birth. Initially they had supported
the couple and said they would be giving them £1,718 to cover the funeral costs
because they were entitled to it. Nadia Oldale and Josh Farrow of Holywell,
Flintshire couldn't believe that the DWP would renege on their word, and said
they would now only offer £700, which left the couple to find £1,017.
County Councillor Peter Curtis described the DWP as 'totally insensitive'
and MP David Hanson said he was not happy with what the DWP had done, and he
would raise the matter with the Minister. (Jan 2016)

'The Sanctions that help nobody, but amuse the
DWP'

We looked at one of many, and decided this
would do --- Shaun was sanctioned for 6 months because he wouldn't go on a
'Work Programme' He's 48, and he gives up a lot of time to help a
Children's' Charity as a shop manager to raise £1000's for children with
life-threatening illnesses.

Then we looked at this -- THE GOVERNMENT's
U.J.M. The Universal Jobmatch site for Jobseekers. We discovered
that this site was awarded with the 'Wooden Nora' prize for being the 'WORST'
jobsite by the National Online Recruitment Awards who looked at 730 sites.

One has to question their motives, lack of
knowledge, and the fact they never look at anything as it is, they act without
any feelings at all for their clients, and actually believe sending people to
wrong jobs and having them on programmes really improves things.

'Tories upset by DWP Benefit sanctions defeat in
European Court'

THE CONSERVATIVES as usual never accept they
are wrong, and even in the face of a legal decision, try to ignore or get around
it. It is quite apparent they use their dodgy lawyers to interpret things
in their favour and even risk being on the edge of legal, because lawyers for
the crown can do this under 'privilege' and get away with it, mainly because the
goal posts move with each try. But as the report says, the Tory government
lost the second round in trying to uphold a law that was in fact illegal.
The Supreme Court in 2013 found the scheme 'Back-to-Work' was flawed legally,
but the government didn't accept this and immediately introduced 'emergency
legislation' but this was challenged in the High Court the same year and ruled
incompatible with European Law.
But this wasn't enough for the DWP and the Tory Government, and they moved to
the Appeal Court to try and get their way, but yet again they were denied a
victory as Appeal Judges, LORD JUSTICE UNDERHILL, LORD JUSTICE BURNETT and DAME
JANET SMITH unanimously rejected the appeal by the Department of Work and
Pensions. It said that the government faced a bill of £130 million in
repayments in the Supreme Court if they didn't overturn this decision...proving
again that they only like the laws that suit them. But the story of this
EVIL is not over as we had Ministers saying 'they were only trying to protect
the public purse'....pull the other one! as if!
Ministers went onto said 'the new laws were justified to stop jobseekers
receiving undeserved payments! Luckily the challenge to the
law was brought by claimant Cait Riley a Birmingham University Graduate who
wanted to work in the museum sector and was given voluntary work experience at
the museum in Birmingham in 2010. And on completing that she was ordered
by the Jobcentre to work at a Pound land store for no pay or lose her £70 a week
jobseeker allowance! She rightly compared this to modern slavery and
claimed it breached her human rights. At this time she found a supporter
who joined her in the legal battle to put right the wrong this government were
doing. Daniel Hewstone had received a sanction when he stopped attending a work
programme because he could not afford to wait for his travel expenses and felt
the menial work offered would not find him long-term work.

'DWP wrong to deny appeals over refused benefits'

JUDGES ruled that the DWP 'unlawfully'
prevented claimants going to Tribunals to challenge the refusal of their
benefits. The Upper Tribunal said it was wrong for the DWP to refuse
claimants the right to appeal if they took more than a month to ask for a review
of a benefit decision. This ruling came one week after the Supreme Court
said that the Government was 'unlawfully' charging fees of up to £1,200 for
access to the Employment Tribunals. The Judges said 'We find that
many claimants will be vulnerable and there is a high risk that many of them
will miss the time limits. This risk has been exacerbated over recent
years by changes in the scope of Legal aid and local authority and advice sector
provision, and hence officers and others who are readily available to assist
claimants with their benefit claims and appeals.
We are concerned with the situation where a claimant sends the Secretary of
State a request for a 'mandatory reconsideration' to which the Secretary of
State responds by stating that the application is late and does not meet the
criteria for extending the time. We have concluded that as a matter of
statutory interpretation, a claimant in such circumstances has a statutory right
of appeal to the first-tier tribunal and should not be denied it.'
(4/8/2017)

'DWP drop 'overpaid benefits case' without
explanation'

A couple who spent an entire year worrying
about a DWP demand for £3,140 overpaid benefit, are now making their own demand
for an answer, when the DWP suddenly dropped the case. Peter and Armanda
Papworth want answers from the Government. Armanda told a reporter, 'It's
been constantly on my mind and eventually I went into hospital suffering from
severe stress and depression.'
The nightmare started when they (the DWP) said her husband had been overpaid in
2007 with income support, and they wanted £3,140 back. The couple from
Inverness had always stayed within the law and couldn't really afford to pay the
sum demanded. They consulted the local CAB and a Tribunal Hearing was set
up. But the DWP didn't turn up, and the Tribunal ruled in favour of the
couple, striking out the DWP's claim. On making enquiries, a DWP
spokesperson refused to comment on why the matter took a year, or why they
didn't proceed with the case? (6/10/2011)

'The confessions of a former DWP Jobcentre
Worker'

Scouring the Web as we do, we often come
across something we didn't expect, and here it is -- An Ex DWP employee states
that 'In truth benefit claimants are being deliberately set up to fail in order
to achieve SANCTION QUOTAS without regard for natural justice or their welfare.
Staff are being used by the managers to behave in a manner that is against the
department's values of integrity and honesty!

'Jobcentre Advisor turns Whistleblower'

A former DWP Civil Servant and advisor at the
Jobcentre, Angela Neville, decided to expose the workings and policies being
carried out by the bosses who set the targets on claimants. She told of
how they were given lists of claimants (otherwise known as customers) to call
immediately, and get them on a work programme. She said her boss didn't
really care whether some of them were ill or not in good health, 'You've got to
put this to them and they maybe sanctioned.' She actually refused, which
is a rare thing and this was at the Braintree Jobcentre, Essex. She said
there was even a sort of game in the office called 'sanction of the month' and
staff were not encouraged to be compassionate with claimants. (4/2/2015)

'Jobcentre tactics revealed by what the DWP call
rogue staff'

This little gem fits nicely with the above
article, and it deals with those sanctions -- Three civil servants who
worked at the Jobcentre observed over quite a period of time what was going on,
and they didn't like it. Obviously more brave than many others in the DWP
they took them on. They decided enough was enough, they said that staff
are instructed to veto a set proportion of claims....and of course the DWP deny
that as expected! The three ex-jobcentre workers set up a website to help
badly treated claimants and in one day alone it got 200 messages. The site
was called
www.jobseekersanctionadvice.com which went viral. One of the
three women said she was completely disillusioned by the treatment meted out to
some claimants during her final years at the jobcentre in the Northeast region,
alleging that staff were pressurised to sanction needy people for the smallest
mistake in their claim. She said 'I decided one Sunday to resign and I
never went back. In the last three years I could see the way things were
going and it wasn't good. Everything is designed to trip people up, and
they are asked to do things that are unsuitable.' In a PCS UNION
SERVICE Survey of Jobcentre Staff, it found two thirds said they had experienced
pressure to refer claimants for a sanction inappropriately.'
(3/8/2014)

NB: What we see here is in line with
the research we have done and what they have said is repeated over and over, as
you can see on both of these above articles and claimant cases we have.
The DWP denied it all and they are fond of pulling out the lies and misleading
quotes to hide the truth. We have much more on all of this and if you just
read a bunch you'll discover something quite awful about the DWP without a
doubt.

'Appeal Judge rules that the JSA Agreement is
Unlawful'

Unfortunately we don't have the Judge's name,
but that a court challenge was made against the DWP over this particular
agreement that claimants are expected to sign. The Applicants Legal
Advisor said that the presiding judge came to this conclusion when he dismissed
the DWP's defence. 'The 'conditionality' imposed on a Jobseeker was
unreasonable and that the Benefit Sanction (immediate stoppage) used to 'punish'
the supposed miscreant was therefore unlawful too.'
The Jobseekers Legal Advisor went onto say that the Judge made things clear by
saying 'There is nothing in the Act or Regulations requiring that a claimant
must comply with everything in the agreement. The reverse is the case.
The Agreement must comply with the Law. A Jobseekers Agreement must comply
'with the prescribed regulations in force, Section 9(1) of the Act. The
pattern of legislation is that a jobseekers agreement must comply with the test
of 'actively seeking work' in Sections 1(2)(c) and 7 of the Act and Regulations
18 of the Regulations and not the other way round.'

NB The Advisor said we ought to
inform the jobseekers of this case and law that helped her win damages from the
DWP, so here it is.

'The true role of the Claimant Agreement is
exposed'

Persecution is what many call it, and beyond
that it is not legally binding, but the DWP ignore this routinely in order to
deliver more sanctions on claimants. It required much more from the
Jobseeker and demanded that they account more clearly for their efforts to find
work, and they will be given a weekly timetable of tasks to complete. It
is also highly intrusive and breaks the Human Rights Act. A student body
think-tank studying the contract said it not only appears to be 'one-sided' but
has no mention of the responsibilities of the Jobcentre in respect of their
commitment to the claimant, or what penalties they face if they fail. They
were alarmed at the number of times it mentions penalties and stopping benefits
if the claimant steps out of line or can't seem to find a job. The Student
group came to the conclusion that the 'Claimant Commitment' is a contract of
sorts, or an attempt to make a contract so that the DWP unfairly uses or abuses
its power and authority over these claimants to inflict unwarranted cruelties
upon them.' (August 2013)

'Yet another Tory unlawful Acted overturned by
the Court of Appeal'

There have been several to date, and some of
these acts passed by Parliament (The Tories) have been continued without
question until someone challenged them in the Appeal Court. Before going
into this, we must first look at the Lawyers acting for the Government and
accepting they know the ins and outs of law, actually approve these unlawful
conditions. Did they know they were doing this, or were they incompetent?
they would deny this, so one can only arrive that they sought to deceive (just
as they do in the withholding of evidence in CPS prosecutions, not telling, and
winning by default). This new piece of unlawfulness has been played out at
the Appeal Court, and it was another challenge to The Data Surveillance Act
passed by the Tories and Legal Establishment in 2014, si it has been running for
6 years as law, when it was wrong. The Court of Appeal ruled that 'The
Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 infringed Civil Rights.
The three Appeal Judges said the Act was inconsistent with EU Law because it
allowed data retention where its use was 'not restricted solely to fighting
serious crime.' Yet during the last five years the authorities were
allowed to snoop, and access website and phone records.

In yet another challenge to Tory Laws on
Benefit changes, they have been found guilty of 'Discrimination' something we
have pointed out for some time on this site. The High Court ruled that
alterations to DWP Regulations and Act on benefit entitlement to PIP, was
limiting the amount of support people with mental health conditions could
receive, and by doing so amounted to Discrimination. It now means that at
least 1.6 million disability benefit claims must be re-examined of around
220,000 people, who will now expect to receive more money because they were
refused help initially under the unlawful condition imposed. The report
says that the new DWP Minister ESTHER McVEY has said that the government will
not appeal against the judgement. But Disabled Groups are already saying
this will take a long time to sort out, even years before those who were treated
unfairly get compensation or benefit from this change in the law.

THE DISABILITY UPHEAVAL AND PIP SITUATION
(ASSESSMENTS)

McVey apparently pays no heed to what this has
meant to the people who have lost out by these 'contractual assessments' which
have decimated disabled claimants livelihoods apart from exacerbating their
mental health issues, which now prompts us to show more of the cases that
clearly show the misery the DWP have created:

Chris l says:

November 10, 2017 at 08:08 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

Attended PIP interview late last year for consideration of migration from DLA to
PIP. The result of this process was I was considered ineligible for the new
benefit scoring just below the threshold on both elements of PIP.

Some background, I have a progressive and incurable condition of the heart,
lungs and circulatory system which severely limits energy, mobility strength.
The paperwork element of the process was very difficult to complete, it took the
effort of my wife, a registered community nurse and myself to complete the forms
over several days. Duly completed and medical evidence enclosed the forms were
returned to DWP.
On the day of the assessment I was seen by a representative of Atos who asked
what I did during the day and what incomes I had and if my wife worked.
Going further I was asked what symptoms I had and how they affected my daily
needs.
I was also asked what my mobility capabilities were and how far I could walk,
toward the end of the meeting I was also asked why I felt I should be entitled
to money.
I endeavoured to answer these questions as I had put on the form but told the
representative I would confirm specifics on the form rather than generalise and
make mistakes as to what was written, at this point the representatives attitude
changed to the point of becoming argumentative and taunting I felt very
uncomfortable at that point, especially when the representative told me I should
stop taking some of my medication so I did not need to attend hospital for
regular blood tests, I questioned her qualifications, she said she was a nurse,.
I was surprised.
In due course I received my letter of refusal, I initially thought it I was the
wrong recipient because it differed so much from what had been discussed. I was
shocked a formal organisation would allow such errors, statements I were
misrepresented and at times clearly recorded wrongly to disadvantage my case,
they were in fact lies.
Subsequently I asked for mandatory reconsideration hoping the inaccuracies would
be addressed, sadly this process remained cynical and non-supportive. I
submitted two signed statements as to the inaccuracies and manipulation of what
I had said at the meeting and how I felt I had been treated wrongly. Mandatory
Reconsideration advised me to take up these problems with the company and
further to this they supported the assessor. Worryingly they supported this
statement by saying if I could tour Scotland in a caravan I had no mobility
needs this shocked me I have not owned or toured with a caravan in over fifteen
years. I sometimes wonder if I have a full grip of reality!
Following this I received a full written copy of the representatives view of
what happened in the meeting this was in a similar vein as to the rest of the
process, There was no clinical assessment of symptoms, where health issues were
present the representative said there was no evidence of such despite taking no
clinical observations at all ie breathing tests, blood pressure measurement, the
process is covered with pseudo clinical assessment to validate a system based on
austerity rather than an individual’s problems in dealing with their health
needs.
I have requested an appeal and I am waiting for an appeal date, ten months now.
I wish I were well enough to go further and more detailed into this sadly I
cannot one more hurdle placed in the way of the disabled and chronically ill.

Barry says:

November 10, 2017 at 07:03 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

Appalling treatment! Considering I am a Fibromyalgia sufferer whose condition
can vary from day to day depending upon a number of factors. I have to use
sticks and/or a wheelchair on some days, others I can't move at all and I am
thankful for those where I look "OK" and I am able to 'live my life'

I was initially awarded benefit entitlement for three years but was re-assessed
at two. At this assessment the person asking the questions did not listen to
what I was saying, incorrect information was recorded and sent back to DWP. As a
result I lost my mobility component completely and was awarded the minimum
amount. Upon the Mandatory reconsideration my award was reviewed and increased
but not to the level it had before. I have lost faith 'in the system'. When it
comes to these 'hidden' disabilities the questions asked do not fairly record
what it is like to live with a variable condition and being assessed by one
person on one day where you may or may not be well is ludicrous at best. A
fairer method would be to rely on the testimony of those applying and their
doctors as they can more accurately state what is wrong and how it affects them.

It almost seems that we are penalised for trying to make the best of things. A
normal life is long gone, I have to carefully structure my days and weeks to
'manage' my condition. If I didn't and I carried on as I did before diagnosis I
would be laid up in bed 5 days out of 7 due to the strain. To have our lives
assessed by a series of inappropriate questions by someone who either does not
understand and/or care is an insult.

Venue choice is inappropriate as well. At my last assessment I was wheelchair
bound. The office the interrogation took place at is the most wheelchair
unfriendly place I have ever been to. It is an old terraced house converted to
office space and my Wife kept bumping into things as there was not enough room
to manoeuvre. It was also very unpleasant with the questions delivered in an
almost Gestapo like way.

Fix the system. Please - make it fair to all those who suffer a disability
whether Physical, Mental, Hidden or other.

Michele Abrahams says:

November 10, 2017 at 05:41 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

Along with many disabled people I was extremely distressed by having to transfer
from income support to ESA, and then recently from DLA to PIP. After receiving
both mobility and care components of DLA I have been awarded only the mobility
element of PIP & though receiving a similar amount of money this has changed my
Housing benefit entitlement. Consequently and without notice this resulted in my
Housing Benefit being suspended completely & being told it may take up to 16
weeks to re assess! The assessor completely ignored lots of information and
medical evidence but the thought of the emotional and physical energy needed to
appeal was too distressing along with being told that if I did appeal I could
lose what I had already been awarded! This seems ridiculous and punitive and the
continuous assault on disabled people by these reforms is unethical, especially
as they are unlikely to be saving the DWP any money anyhow. I consider myself to
be fairly intelligent and despite my stress and difficulties have been able to
access resources to help me with recent changes, filling out 30 page forms etc.
But many people can’t access these resources due to learning difficulties,
mental health problems or just not having achieved the standard of education
necessary to keep up with and understand the benefits system. Some of the most
vulnerable people in our society are dropping through the 'safety net’ and being
made homeless or even sicker (myself included) by this continual wearing down
and fear. I had to borrow huge amounts of money to keep up with my rent and
after 2 months a letter from my MP seemed to help get my Housing benefits sorted
out. The fear of Universal Credit hanging over us.

Kathy says:

November 10, 2017 at 04:56 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

We applied for pip for my son in October last year. It was refused despite
providing clear evidence that he met many criteria. We asked for a mandatory
reconsideration, provided more evidence but were still refused. It was evident
that those involved in the process had paid little regard to both the evidence
and the independent medical assessment. In respect of the independent assessment
we also felt that the assessor had not read the application, evidence and asked
leading or closed questions. We went to a tribunal. In their response to this
the DWP contradicted themselves, and again did not appear to have properly read
everything provided. The judge awarded the standard rate of pip, backdated for a
year to the date of application, and stayed that we should never have gone to
tribunal as it was clear from the start that my son was eligible. The process
was quite frankly barbaric, extremely stressful and demeaning. We are pleased
that we persevered but feel so bad for those who give up because of the stress
involved. I hope that this helps. Please try and make this process more humane.
In my son's case he has autism which includes communication and social
challenges. His GP, the mental health nurse, and autism assessor all gave
evidence to this effect and we could not understand why their professional
opinion could not be used as the basis for assessing eligibility. This would
significantly reduce costs and save time, giving a fair and reliable diagnosis.
Thank you.

George Williams says:

November 10, 2017 at 03:42 PM

Subject: ESA Assessment

The DWP after mandatory review in January 17 finally sent my papers to the
medical assessment board in March of this year, I have been chasing for a
decision but no review of my file has been made. I have been told I am not their
focus due to a new benefit that has a time frame attached to the review, this
new benefit for severe cases came in in April and as such my file has had no
work or chasers by the DWP. NO one has returned my calls and the hackney benefit
office do not even answer their phone. I have had my benefits reduces from the
work group allowance to the standard rate and nothing is being considered as a
concern, the DWP say they have no rights when the file is sent over. Surely 7
months is too long for a review,

Bryan says:

November 10, 2017 at 02:46 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

Just had my pip "review" assessment decision scored 0 points and so my pip will
be stopped the assessment decision doesn’t match anything i had said at the
assessment for example my medication is controlled by my partner and the chemist
yet on the sheet it says 0 and that i manage my own medication. I suffer from
ADHD, depression, and a heart condition which can be affected by the meds if i
over exert myself. The whole decision and each section is complete lies and
fabricated to make me look like I have no problems at all .. I’m absolutely
disgusted at this decision and the assessor for lying.

Aileen says:

November 10, 2017 at 02:38 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I am writing on behalf of my son, who is 31 & has Asperger’s. He had to go
through the humiliating & degrading experience of the PIPs Assessment. The
process had a catastrophic effect on his mental and physical wellbeing.
My son’s assessor obviously had no knowledge or understanding of his disability.
She monitored him from the moment he entered the building & gave a warped
version. She said he had good eye contact when in fact he was focussing on the
computer because the whole room was white causing him eye stress.
The mental ability test: In the report she stated he got the mental ability
questions all right when in fact he got a number wrong.
The assessor focussed on my son attending college & had his ‘own’ business. She
used this information as ammunition. They stated that as he could cope with
college he could ‘cope’ with everyday life, despite it being made clear he only
got through college because of the support of people who understood his
condition.
His ‘business’ had been set up by the job centre as he isn’t able to cope in
other work. They recognised, because of Asperger’s he has special skills. The
assessor & resultant report used his great effort to maintain some sort of
normal life against him. They would not accept the evidence of his previous
Asperger’s assessment, done through the college, & yet used some of this as
evidence against him.
The questions should be more relevant & consider what he had put into his form.
The quality control was definitely not affective. The assessor appeared to fit
answers to a prescribed document and did not take any cognisance of what was
said. In the subsequent reports, my son actually felt they were moving the goals
posts. No recognition was taken of the specific challenges of Asperger’s.
At the tribunal my son & I felt that we were talking with and listened to by
professionals who understood Asperger’s and didn’t make unmerited judgements.
Their consideration and report was a complete turnaround to the initial report.
The PIP representative asked 1 question based on the ‘historical’ evidence &
then bowed out, aware he was wrong.
The first report, January 2016, was so unjust and full of inaccuracies and
untruths, that we had no other decision than to appeal to overturn the initial
assessment.
Second report, March 2016 & denial of his PIP affected his Tax Credits. He had
no money from April to August 2016. He was unable to go to the job centre; it
would have affected his right to appeal. Fortunately I could give him some help.
My son was driven to appeal, despite his diminishing health, because of the
injustice of the report.
The MR process is absolutely not working. Despite putting in a well-considered
appeal for Mandatory Reconsideration, supported by a Voluntary Organisation &
our local MP, he was still denied PIP, BASED ON INACCURACIES & UNTRUTHS. The
reply to the MR shocked us, especially my son who felt that everything he had
achieved, his efforts at getting through college etc., shouldn’t have been done.
He felt worthless.
My son was fortunate that others listened, realised how wrong the initial report
was and supported him to apply for MR & eventually the appeal. His local MSP &
eventually MP, were in constant contact, but the main source of help was a
voluntary group who understood his disability. He had a medical assessment with
a psychiatrist, which had never been required before, who categorically &
accurately stated my son has Asperger’s and the effect it has on daily life.
Applying for MR was a joke, they obviously only considered the inaccurate
initial report put in by the assessor from ATOS & did not consider our reply. My
son felt his character was being assassinated & suffered severe mental stress.
The main change should be using assessors who are authentically employed, to
assess people; Assessors who have a genuine knowledge of the wide variety of
conditions and how they affect day to day living.
The time from my son’s initial assessment through MR was 8 months. This was a
shocking length of time.
My son was able to understand the purpose of the assessment, once I had
explained it to him. However he did need my support to attend the assessment.
All claimants have problems specific to them but ASD/ Asperger’s’ have specific
difficulties with understanding and filling in forms. My son found some of the
questions confusing.. He felt a lot of questions were vague or to do with
physical difficulties.
There was a real disparity between the initial ATOS assessor’s account of the
assessment & consequent report and our awareness of the process. Fortunately my
son’s account was recognised at the appeal as being the true and accurate one.

Charlotte says:

November 10, 2017 at 01:57 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

The PIP assessment is a joke from beginning to end. I was recently booked in for
a reassessment due to my condition worsening. I waited in all day, with my
assistant staying for 2.5 hours. The assessor never turned up. My assistant
regularly went outside to check, and we called and were told our assessment time
had changed, and then to wait in. I rang back again to be told that the assessor
claims I didn’t open the door. Even with my assistant calling and stating what
happened, my case has now been handed back to the DWP who are likely to stop my
benefit completely due to believing capita.
As a claimant there is no way to fight your corner, and you are at the mercy of
a very dishonest system. You are not only battling adversity in living with
illness and disability, but an unfair system that penalises you for being
unfortunate enough to be ill.
The assessments themselves are equally dishonest and traumatic. Every question
is designed to prove that the claimant is more able then they are. There are
huge discrepancies between the answers to the questions in the interviews, and
the actual written report handing in by capita. There is little provision to
accommodate those with variable illness or mental health problems, and it is a
truly horrific experience to put someone through.
The help is supposedly going to ‘those that need it most’, but in reality, no
matter how in need you are, this is no more than a lottery. Shame on the
government for claiming that this is a fair and just system.

Terence says:

November 10, 2017 at 04:39 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I have a severe mental health problem and also suffer from a degenerative
neurological condition.
I broke down and sobbed at my first interview as the pressure I felt under was
unbearable. I was offered tea 'to help me concentrate', my carer asked if there
was a mental health trained person who could help her calm me but she was told
it wasn't necessary, then when things got worse admitted no one was suitably
trained. At that my carer declared that we were leaving, wrote the reasons down
and asked that they would sign that we had given this reason for going. They
refused to do this and said that leaving would impact badly on the report.
My carer made a formal request for a review at my home and refused to leave the
office until a date was given. The receptionist was the only person with any
humanity.
The home visit was also extremely traumatic as my mental health had deteriorated
because of the situation. The interviewer had no understanding or interest in
mental health, couldn't understand that problems could not be overcome by
'positive thinking'.
I have suffered from mental illness since a teenager and this has and continues
to affect me profoundly. I continue to be under the care of a psychiatrist and
take a combination of drugs including anti-psychotic drugs.
This information meant nothing to the interviewer whose report gave no weight to
any of this evidence.
Neither did she accurately record the physical difficulty
I have.
Without my carer's determination and refusal to be intimidated I would never
have completed the assessment. My psychiatrist attributed the deterioration in
my mental health directly to the stress and fear of the PIP assessment.
I know that without support and strength of mind of my carer I would never have
got past the first obstacle.

Terence Jackson

Allison Mcdermott says:

November 10, 2017 at 01:47 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I had my pip review and stated 'NO CHANGE' i was still required to attend an
assessment. The assessor was rude, condescending and made me feel stupid. I felt
i was not heard at all and could not confide in her. I left in tears.
I received a copy of her report in which she made assumptions about me, ignored
things i had told her and misconstrued information i had given.
Due to her report i completely lost all my entitlement. From enhanced care and
mobility to nothing! I am currently at the stage of mandatory reconsideration. I
feel totally let down.

P H says:

November 10, 2017 at 01:36 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

My wife who has MS had her PIP consultation at home just over a month ago. We
knew it would be difficult. And after the event, it has to be said that it was
one of the worst, most humiliating experiences we have been through. The
assessor had no knowledge of MS , was aggressively asking leading questions, was
making strange and incorrect statements and was putting words in my wife's
mouth. Needless to say, she was extremely upset and deflated. And all this
'damage' inflicted in just 1 hour.
We sent a letter of complaint but have heard nothing back. It feels like the
decision has already been made, a stitch-up.
We have not had a decision yet, but should it be negative, we will not lie down
without fighting this awful and inhuman system.

Becca says:

November 10, 2017 at 01:45 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I'm going from DLA to PIP The only way to apply is via telephone. I cannot
use a telephone, don't even own one and the process discriminated against me
from the start. There's no support services in my area so I was forced to beg to
get a stranger to phone for me, who took my money and refused, a social worker
eventually rang and there was no way to do the assessment on the phone without
it being recorded, yet they will not allow me to record them - it is strictly
banned. They read long statements to me I couldn't understand and said if I
didn't say yes I couldn't apply so I had no choice. I'm terrified of what I've
agreed to under that pressure. The refused to believe I don't have a telephone,
kept insisting I gave them telephone number and email - my email is for personal
correspondence only I will not discuss private matters via it as it is not
secure and I do not own a telephone.

They said I'd have 28 days to return the form, this is a lie. It's 28 days
(including weekends and bank holidays) from the phone call, and they say to
allow 21 days for it to turn up - the least it takes is two weeks so 14 days to
return, not 28. There's no online form - it's a lie that they are specific
questions they are exactly the same they just waste time and money printing a QR
code on each page with patient details such as national insurance number (which
could easily just be put on the form as it is with other benefits). So two weeks
to fill it in. I had no one to help me with it at such short notice. 2 week
extension was supposedly granted to social worker and MP on telephone, except
the extension was rejected and my DLA was stopped because I didn't return the
form before the date originally given. My MP got my money reinstated. I've heard
nothing since. I've ended up in hospital from the stress of what is happening to
me, I've begun drinking again and attempted suicide because I cannot live
without this money. My post gets stolen and I cannot travel or have anyone in my
home for assessment due to abuse. I've been told I'm not allowed to know the
details of the assessor - I'm expected to see a total stranger and it's not
allowed to be recorded or done via paper and I cannot cope with people typing in
a small room.

I've been assaulted by a medical professional who I know is allowed to do these
assessments so I'm supposed to risk that happening repeatedly. I had an
assessment where I was injured by the assessor insisting I subluxed my joints to
prove my condition. I tried complaining after being told they were a nurse, they
weren't a nurse.

The DWP can take months to reply to letters or phone calls but we are expected
to fill in and provided medical evidence (at cost because) within at most two
weeks. It's ridiculous. My GP sees me every day due to suicide risk currently.

I have genetic deteriorating illnesses (as well as others) which will become
terminal yet I'm spending all my time struggling to get benefits (I've been
reassessed for ESA several times this year alone). I'm terrified, I cannot work,
and taking my money away won't make me work. Nothing anyone even my consultants
can do can make me work. I've no family or anyone I can fall back on when money
stops. There will be no bank loan or credit card to help me meet my needs next
time I'm turned down.

Sarah Cummings says:

November 10, 2017 at 12:45 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

The Nottingham assessment centre is on Maid Marion Way, in a building with a
flight of stairs at the front, no parking and no bus stop nearby.
I used to get DLA as I need a carer for 16 hours a week and now I don’t qualify
for any help. The assessor ignored my evidence & said I can cook without help,
because I could use microwave meals.

Trisha says:

November 10, 2017 at 12:38 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

My face to face assessment for their application was absolutely awful. When I
received the report the majority of the statement was untrue and what I had said
had been omitted. My condition is vds, fainting, this happened at interview and
nothing was mentioned in the report. I am now on my 6th week waiting for a reply
on a mandatory reconsideration

PS: THERE ARE 1000'S MORE CASES SIMILAR TO THE ABOVE, AND THIS IS BUT A VERY
SMALL EXAMPLE OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUFFERED BECAUSE OF THE DWP.

'More Court Action in the High Court over DWP
Benefits'

Yet another challenge to the Tory changes to
benefits looms as The High Court is set to hear a case lodged against the
Government over the 'Two Child Limit' rule imposed by them in relation to
welfare payments introduced by the DWP in 2017 restricting child tax credits and
Universal Credit to the first two children in a family only. Lawyers
representing three families have said that this rule is detrimental to all
children, and are urging the Appeal Judge Mr Justice Ouseley to find it
'Irrational and Unlawfully Discriminately' QC Richard Dribble said
the policy created by the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 'is incompatible with
the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of a
Child' He told the Court 'This Rule fails to have regard for the
individual rights of children and is predicted on the proposition that those
unable to support themselves solely through work should make choices about
intimate behaviour' The hearing is still continuing.
(Feb 2018)

'Jobless claimants find support is hard to
access'

The latest report on the jobless and
jobseekers is yet again gloomy as this government, the policy-makers have a
relaxed attitude to the gap in funding and support for those desperately in need
of it. About 300,000 unemployed people and those on low incomes are
missing out on financial support they are entitled to, but scared to ask for in
the current climate of assessments and qualifying hurdles set up by the
government. The Resolution Foundation say these people are the 'forgotten
unemployed' who are mainly older people especially between the ages of 55 and
64. It said that it had found a huge number of these people were not
claiming at all, many of such fear the regime of not being welcome and going
through a barrage of questions about their private life, home and financial
details which are picked over by staff in jobcentres with an eye on refusing as
many as they could to bolster up government propaganda on employment figures.
Even though these people are entitled to this support which they do need, they
back away from the Jobcentres after hearing the things that claimants faced on
signing up. David Finch a senior economic analyst for the Foundation said
'Over the last 20 years , a growing number of unemployed people are not claiming
benefits of Universal Credit or Jobseekers Allowance.'
(Dec 2017)

'Diabetic Claimant wins in benefit Appeal'

This is a terrible case, and it started with
the sanctions given out by the Jobcentre on behalf of the DWP. It concerns
the immoral Jobcentre rules and welfare sanctions they're so fond of handing out
to jobseekers. Campaigners connected with this 'horrific case' came out to
support David Boyce, whose tragic case turned so because of the DWP. They
campaigned outside the Jobcentre in Salford and yet again on the steps of the
Tribunal. The DWP had stopped his benefits for 5 months. David Boyce
suffered from diabetes and took insulin to control it, he was unable to
afford the strict diet prescribed due to lack of money, and he eventually could
not control his insulin intake and his condition spiralled out of control to
such a danger point that he had to have one of his legs amputated due to
complications. David from Weaste, said his benefits had been frozen 14
times because of issues with his paperwork, and because he got into a
disagreement about the jobseekers agreement, he was sanctioned numerous times.
The stopped cash was eventually returned to David after he won his appeal at the
Tribunal, with every sanction overturned by the Judge. Now, since that,
the campaigners 'Salford's Unemployed and Community Resource Centre' are seeking
compensation from the DWP for David's amputation, which according to legal
consideration, could cost the DWP millions. The DWP made no comment?
(7/9/2016)

A report that could easily be overlooked as
surfaced and casts doubt on the integrity of Civil Servants. It says that
civil servants 'removed' over a 1000 files from public view at Kew, West London,
and took them back to Whitehall. It is said that each file contains dozens
of papers covering sensitive events such as when MI6 Officers apparently
conspired to bring down the first labour government etc, the killing of a
journalist, dubious activities by Special Branch and much more. It was
also revealed that Foreign Office officials had had removed a small number of
documents and some are said to have been 'misplaced? and others 'on loan
to a government department' and some have been reported as 'lost'
John Trickett a minister said 'the loss of documents about controversial periods
in history is unacceptable. The British people deserve to know what the
government has done in their name and the loss or misplaced excuses will only
fuel accusations of a 'cover-up' and confirm to many that they want to hide
anything that shows them acting unlawful or despicable.' (Dec 2017)

'DWP attitude leaves claimant penniless'

This report that keeps to the name Bessie as
the wronged claimant, leaves one with a shudder as to what lengths staff will go
to in order to please their masters- the DWP. Bessie, a 51 year old woman
suffers from a variety of linked health problems including Autism and
Agoraphobia. Journalist Frances Ryan says in her piece, that the DWP dealt
this lady a succession of cruel blows that left her with nothing to live on.
She said Bessie sold what possessions she had to keep warm and eat. This
awful situation went on for a period of three and a half years, all the reality
of the Tory cuts in Welfare. They actually scrapped most of her assigned
benefits she started with after creating new meanings, interpretations and
loopholes thanks to the likes of IAIN DUNCAN-SMITH, and dealt her a final blow
by saying she had been declared 'Fit for Work'. All these moves operated
by the DWP civil servants squeezed her living allowance until she went into
debt, and by 2013, she had accrued six months of rent arrears, plus the problem
of how to pay for electricity, gas etc. It was only the charity shops that
gave her a lifeline and help, not the authorities, council or DWP, they remained
as callous as they usually are in these matters.
She now worries about everything, and she's afraid of bills and admits to
rationing the light and heat. This case is one the Public should shout
about, but they don't, many like to turn the other way, and that suits the
Tories and DWP.
Bessie is by no means the only claimant who has suffered at the hands of dutiful
civil servants who work at the DWP and HMRC, this is the reality of how the poor
have been treated in a society that masquerades as 'decent'
(17/12/2017)

'DWP sanctions affect so many'

Yet another horror story of how the DWP treat
claimants --- this time it left the claimant with no money for a year?
Margo Laird was as it says in this report, sanctioned for not attending
Jobcentre interviews despite the fact her doctor had been contacting the
Jobcentre in relation to the claim for benefits. The Doctor categorically
told them that she was not fit for work, yet this was ignored and her Universal
Benefit payments were cut. She then had to face the 'knock-on' effect of
losing her housing benefit allowance, and faced a court case for rent arrears
she owed her housing Association in Pollcross; they said she owed back rent to
the tune of around 900 pounds. The Housing Benefit was gradually
re-instated, but they refused to pay the arrears even though the DWP had been
involved in that and contributed to the situation. Of course, this just
increases the debt, a debt she would have over her for some conceivable time
being on benefits (that's if you get them). She had no
money coming in and had to rely on friends and relatives to keep a semblance of
a normal life which had become very stressful to say the least. Her case
was raised in The House of Commons by MP David Linden who approached the Work
and Pensions Minister Damian Hinds. Mr Linden said in a statement 'What
has happened to Margo Laird has been pushed as close to destitution as she can
by the Tory Government and UK' (November 2017)

'Tories in yet more secrecy surrounding Brexit'

It's often very difficult to find or ascertain
how many civil servants take part in a cover-up, but we can be certain they
actually do when it is necessary for them to deny and obstruct investigation by
Press. This new one concerns a Report by the Tories who refused to publish
the full details of a 'leaked' analysis, which indicates that the economy of the
UK will be badly hit by Brexit no matter what deal is finally agreed to by PM
May and Europe. MP Chris Leslie of Labour called it 'a cover-up' while 50
MP's signed a cross-party letter calling on the Report to be published in full.

'UK Government facing 1.7billion pound fine by
E.U.'

A Report has emerged which only makes the Tory
position more difficult -- E.U.Investigators have accused the UK of
helping Chinese criminals evade Customs fees. The E.U's anti-fraud body
Olaf, called for the Uk to pay 1.7billion in Customs receipts evaded by
gangsters between 2013 and 2016. Fraud Investigators in Brussels took the
extraordinary decision to issue the huge bill as they accused the British
Government of helping the Chinese in a sophisticated tax scam. At a time
when relations with the E.U. are tense, this will undoubtedly make matters worse
in the Brexit negotiations said a spokesperson in the E.U., and it is likely to
infuriate Downing Street. It was said by Officials in Europe that the UK
had failed to act despite holding numerous meetings with Investigators hoping to
address the issues' (9/3/2017)

'Home Office in 'The Error' Game'

Yes, we're back on the 'ERRORS' trail and this
time, it's along the path leading to THE HOME OFFICE. A Report out says
they have now admitted to making an error in denying visas! It appears
that people have been wrongly denied permission to stay in the UK after refusing
to provide DNA evidence in 'a breach of its own policy'.....Apparently, the Home
Office Secretary SAJID JAVID openly stated that the government had 'illegally
demanded' DNA evidence in family visa cases. Having already denied seven
people the right to stay, he said they would be reimbursed for any financial
loss as a result of the errors!
(October 2018)

A report says that Border staff of three
government officials stayed at a luxury hotel 'the Sugar Ridge Hotel' on a
Caribbean island at a cost of £18,000 for 64 nights. The team made the
trip in 2016 supposedly to advise the local authorities on drug-trafficking, and
it has taken almost a year to get this information which otherwise would not
have been available. Apparently, The Mail Online investigators obtained it
through a FOI. Apparently, the response by Government officials explained
that this cost might raise concerns, but they believe it was the most suitable
option available in terms of balancing costs and security?
(the taxpayers might just think otherwise)
(Dec 2017)

'Cost of Parliament to taxpayers is 550 Million
pounds'

If you've ever wondered where your money is
going, and this is only a 'partial truth thing with the Tories' 550 million
pounds was spent by the civil service and politicians on whatever they like, and
some are saying Brexit is the demon in the pot here. The report says this
half-billion pounds were also for MP's salaries and expenses! Do you remember
that folks? The Institute for Government said 'staff and goods costs were
20 million! and the remainder was spent on such things as grants, rent payments
(which includes empty buildings they don't discuss) and a thing they are
referring to as 'members services' The Tories are blaming Brexit for
the cost too as the EU withdrawal Act took a year and more than 273 hours of
debate.....three times longer than any other Bill, and the House of Commons
spent at least 48 hours of sitting time and voting. But as usual, this
'allowed' reckoning is a Press release and what you don't know will be kept
under wraps. (August 2018)

'Tory Minister resigns over 'back-out' to control
rise of gambling companies'

We covered this nearly three years ago in our
'RELATED TOPICS' page when the Tory Government led by Cameron said he was going
to control the gambling in the light of a report which showed that many people
were in debt as a result of online gambling, of which there was just a handful
then. Today came the news that Sports Minister TRACEY CROUCH resigned her
position. The report says she stood down in protest over the Chancellor
Philip Hammond's budget announcement that the maximum stake on 'fixed-odds'
betting terminals would not be cut from 100 pounds to 2 pounds until October
2019, a year later than 'promised' -- She wrote to Theresa May and said the
delay was not justifiable, and that every day delayed would result in two people
taking their lives over gambling debts. Many suggested that this delay was
to appease the Gambling industry! out of which the government make a good
profit. Well over 20 gambling companies advertise daily on the TV network
(often Freeview) enticing people to gamble with offers of free spins etc, and
behind this scene are the loan sharks, which number well over ten offering quick
fixes and payday loans, this is what the Tories have done, and at least one of
them has principles! (1/11/2018)

'HAMMOND MEETS BETTING INDUSTRY MOGULS BEFORE
DECISION TO POSTPONE -- As we indicated above, the Chancellor actually met with
the Industry before the delay decision was made which resulted in the MP Tracey
Couch resignation. The Report says that in February, Philip Hammond
invited the views of Paddy Power Betfair and the Association of British
Bookmakers at a special meeting at the Treasury, concerning 'review' of gambling
laws. MP Tracey Crouch expressed her anger at the Gambling lobby, saying
the decision announced in the House had been taken following 'commitments made
by others to those with registered interests'

Tory Communities Secretary twists the tale in
order to confuse the issue -- Tory Secretary James Brokenshire has it out at
Tracey Crouch saying that there has been 'no delay' and contradicted Ms Couch's
insistence that there had been a six month delay, saying that they were called
on to introduce the arrangements prior to April 2020, and claims to have brought
the matter forward to deliver it by October 2019.

So who do you believe?

THIS NEXT CASE COULD AND SHOULD BE KNOWN AS A
SCANDAL AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS:

'DWP trials 'prisoner type' regulations regime on
claimants'

There are some areas which one shouldn't go,
but this Tory Government are tearing up the book on decency, and however many of
you out there think this is fair, then this site is after investigating you and
your past, and making that public.

Proving that they don't give a damn about
human rights or respect for a person, the Tory Government and DWP went a step
further in their 'Big Brother' 1984 scenario........'Look for work from 9am to
5pm or lose your benefits' was their slogan as they trialled out a new regime at
Bradford to test out this outrageous policy. Ministers who will now not
own up to their support for this (in case they are rightly booted out)
suppressed the following. 1) Jobseekers are to sign on each day (like a
school register) and spend the whole day on job applications, such as
fabricating those CV's etc. And the Draconian sanctions are: A) The
claimant will have their benefits removed for 3 months if they fail to
hunt for jobs 35 hours each week. B) A first breach and they will lose 4 weeks
benefit, and a second breach means that they will forfeit 3 weeks money! ......
this happened in (3/9/2014) under that coward Osborne, Duncan-Smith and David
Cameron.

NB: The above should have been challenged
in the courts under ARTICLE 3 of The Human Rights Act, as it contains elements
of that Act which can be interpreted as the following -- PROHIBITION OF TORTURE.
Freedom from torture, inhuman treatment, degrading treatment/ degrading
punishment. The Act says that the 'Protections' cannot be derogated
(discredited) from, in any circumstances, even during war or a public emergency.
This Article places a negative duty on the State not to inflict this suffering
on human beings, as well as a positive duty to see that these forms of suffering
are not carried out within its borders. Further to that, ARTICLE 4 states
that 1) No one shall be held in slavery or servitude 2) No-one shall be required
to perform forced or compulsory labour!

PS: There is one rub to this, and its called the ECHR
and that means the EUROPEAN CONVENTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, an Article that was
thought up by those who wanted to opt out of protections in case it messed up
with their plans or gave people the upper hand. In 1998 Britain's Labour
Party did this and chose to opt out or water down certain obligations of the
HUMAN RIGHTS ACT, and deny its citizens rights enjoyed by other countries that
had signed up to the whole deal. As to why this was done is obvious if you
study the Human Rights Act particularly about Government Rights and how the
People could bring them to account for any misdeeds. It is clear however,
that the UK government wanted to pick and choose which laws they were willing to
uphold. The ECHR was considered and roughly interpreted as a 'Living
Instrument' adapting to changing needs? This Government was able to, under
Article 15. Opt out and derogate from their obligations under the Convention,
which by any standard disregards and destroys the intention and concept of a law
that was for all the signatories to adhere to. Britain decided to opt out
and only pick the ones they liked, several protocols have not been ratified by
the U.K. Government.

One thing the UK government didn't want was the State
to pay damages to a person or party who had suffered a breach of ECHR, despite
the intention of the ECHR which was to protect the individual against a misuse
of power by the State. The UK Government was not happy that the ECHR
included public authorities and the misuse of power, and argued strongly against
action being brought against them, so much so, that they applied for amendments
and another review of this.

SO WHEN YOU HEAR THE UK TELLING OTHERS ABOUT HUMAN
RIGHTS, COME BACK TO THIS ARTICLE AND THE HYPOCRISY OF THE UK.

'Bullying Jobcentre Staff put claimants through
hell'

A report revealed that companies are often
'cold called' by jobseekers having to phone as many numbers as possible as part
of a policy dreamt up by the DWP. Industry bosses admitted to shredding
the letters from the Jobcentre Work Programmes as soon as they get them, and
that they are frustrated with the calls too; as many of them have no jobs to
offer. We know from research that the cold-call phoning is absolutely
true, and was carried out on a large scale in the 1980's. The report
states that people on the 'Welfare to Work' scheme are forced into sitting in
open plan phone booths and banks, for several hours cold-calling from telephone
books. Claimants gave evidence to the MSP's Committee, and many said
they'd been put down on many occasions and some broke down in tears at the lack
of respect shown. (27/10/2015)

'Jobcentre Staff in Scandal'

A damaging report has revealed that two
Jobcentre staff were sacked in 2013 for misusing the 'Flexible Support Funds'
--- which they used when they took jobseekers off JSA, only to slip them cash
from another fund to plug the gap. The two Civil Servants involved said
they were encouraged by managers to meet targets, including 'falsely signing
claimants off benefits' so that they could be regarded as employed for the
statistics or just not on the JSA list, which helped the DWP to massage the
figures in public statements. The report showed that 8 out of 66 staff at
the Plaistow Jobcentre claimed they were under pressure to meet targets any way
they could. (8/7/2016)

'Almost 5 DWP staff breach the data protection
Act'

Due to a 'Despatches' TV Programme, it was
revealed that around five civil servants working at the DWP were disciplined for
data offences. It revealed that in 2011 there were approximately 13 cases
of data breaches each month concerning the 'unlawful access' to medical records
reported to the Department of Health. Under a Freedom of Information
request the investigators on the TV programme asked them how many times
had staff been disciplined for data offences in one year as an example.
They confirmed there had been 992 in ten months. When pointing out that
breaching the Data Act was a criminal offence, the DWP refused to comment on
that side of things, but admitted it was a huge database that many departments
had access to within government, and that it was the biggest collection of
personal data throughout Europe!

'DWP send 'near retirement JSA claimants on
career and pc courses'

A report reveals that Jobcentres are sending
people near retirement age with no interest in computers, on a computer course
to get them 'career opportunities' Several such claimants who'd
turned 60 at the North Kensington Jobcentre found themselves being ordered to go
on courses, often called 'career opportunities'....and most of this age group
were likely to leave any job they got in around five or six years, which cannot
be seen as a career move....a career was meant to be a working lifetime thing
when one was young. However, despite this the staff treated them as if
they're looking for a career. Some of this staff need training in what
'career' means.

PS: a recent 2017 report says that three
out of every four report age discrimination at work. According to the site
that many jobseekers are told to register with, CV-Library, a third of workers
say they have been rejected for a job because of their age, and more than half
of workers over the age of 55 say they have been discriminated against because
of their age. Founder of CV-Library Lee Biggins said 'Discrimination
around age is not only rife in workplaces, but also during the hiring process.
But, while employers may think their pickiness will secure them the very best
workers, they're actually limiting themselves even further.'

'Cuts to benefits and Social care hits the
Elderly'

Their are two types of elderly, or OAP's, and
those are the well off, and the others the poor. In a Welfare Report it
says that the elderly are paying the price for social care cuts.....and cuts to
other services too. Politicians in both local councils and Government play
the game of blame and still the needy suffer. The report says there have
been 6 years of consecutive cuts to care and services, and access to it depends
on where they live, and how much money they have rather than their needs.
The stark truth of austerity and cuts by the Conservative MP's has created a
social care system increasingly unable to meet the needs of an ageing
population. The Report by the Independent Charities The King's Fund and
Nuffield Trust said that older people just about managing are being forgotten
and routinely ignored because there is no council who can afford to maintain
services that responded to individuals, especially as cuts in fees paid by local
authorities and other cost pressures, such as the National Living Wage, are
squeezing the incomes of residential and home-care providers.

'Benefits and Austerity'

Undoubtedly connected and denied by the Tories
who frequently come out with the phrase ' We're spending more on' but it's
rarely proved. The Benefit freeze will go on because it is in their fiscal
policy to meet targets until at least 2020 and beyond, and what with the McVey
gaff of admitting families will be worse off by 210 pounds a year, that isn't
the only stumbling block to MAY'S PROMISE 'that Austerity is over', think tanks
cannot work out how she can put more in and take more out? A recent
report has revealed that Benefit Tenants with Private Landlords are behind with
their rent, and in many cases this is put fairly and squarely with Universal
Credit and the mess it has got into with the five to six weeks before payments
are made. 61% of Landlords with the Residential Landlords Association
research company 'Pearl' say that over the past 12 months tenants receiving
universal credit have often gone into rent arrears. Sue Proctor said 'Mike
Durran is lucky if he has not noticed austerity which he says is down to hard
work, many would love to have a good paid job, but in reality sometimes they are
restricted by disability ill health or care responsibilities for relatives
including parents, siblings, and partners, they are the ones most affected by
this austerity, we do not all have equal ability to be in Mike's position.'
(2018)

'Tories still persist in the end of austerity
myth knowing they cannot guarantee it'

CHANCELLOR PHILIP HAMMOND is like a poor
magician, unsure whether the trick works, but still persists in doing it anyway.
His October budget suddenly produced money, and leading financial authorities
said this was due to 'accounting forecasts and creative accounting' which he
tried to convey was unexpected. And if one were to believe this, then he
was preparing to make things worse in the austerity stakes no matter how much
insincere smiling he contrived. Austerity if far more difficult to remove
and he knows this, but his leader MAY needs him to get her out of a hole, a very
deep one she created for herself when she declared 'Austerity is over, it has
ended' Well, analysts have been quick off the mark looking at the proof of
this and how the budget could do it.....so read the following report.

Chancellor Philip Hammond has taken a gamble with the public finances, with a
one in three chance of failing, a leading economic think tank has warned.

Mr Hammond took advantage of a £68 billion windfall from revised borrowing
forecasts to help fund a £100 billion loosening of the purse-strings in Monday’s
Budget, promising voters a “brighter future” after years of austerity.

But the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that the amended figures from the
Office for Budget Responsibility could easily be reversed, forcing the
Chancellor to borrow more after “painting himself into a corner”.

Expert
analysts said that the bulk of the Chancellor’s tax cuts would go to the
wealthy, while his spending plans meant “no bonanza” for public services outside
the NHS.

Living standards think tank the Resolution Foundation said the decision to bring
forward to 2019 planned increases in income tax thresholds to £12,500 for basic
rate and £50,000 for the higher rate would “overwhelmingly benefit richer
households”.

Some 45% of the benefits will go to the top 10% of households and nearly 90% to
the top half, said the think tank

(30/10/18)

One could easily show how fickle and fake it
is , a headline following the budget ran 'NO-DEAL BREXIT WOULD MEAN NO END TO
AUSTERITY' and Philip Hammond did tag this condition onto his speech by warning
that he may have to scrap the things set out and redraw the position in May
2019. Although no-one seemed interested after his 'give away bonus speech'
it did cast grave doubts about austerity and Mr's May's speech, which of course
he didn't want to do. He said 'The Government would have to take a
different approach if there was no deal. Others have pointed out quite
rightly, that this is at odds with what was promised at the Tory Conference when
it was said that 'austerity would be over regardless of a Brexit deal' -- so yet
again we see the goal posts change position and interpretation receive yet
another twist, which is typical of the Conservative Party when it comes to being
'Clear' (report 30/10/2018)

'AUSTERITY EASED' this is yet another
interpretation of the Tory Myth as they try to pull the wool over the eyes of
the electorate. What they are not too keen on mentioning is that the
Analysis by The Resolution Think Tank found that three-quarters of the 12
billion pounds of welfare cuts announced just after the 2015 election remain as
Government Policy, and these are due to carried through. And they pointed
out that the squeeze continues for lower income families!
(31/10/2018)

'Maladministration Scandal caused by the DWP'

This scandal was caused by a bureaucratic
bungle that led to claimants on sanctions losing their housing benefit and
facing eviction, having been thrown into debt and having nowhere to turn.
The Report says the problem originated and was caused by the DWP Computer
Systems wrongly informing Local Authority Housing Benefit Sections that a
Jobseeker's benefit had been cancelled; when in fact it had only been
temporarily suspended. Sanctioned claimants often had no idea
that this was even likely to happen, and they only became aware of it when their
landlords told them they were in rent arrears, which of course was far too late
for the affected claimants. It was long after this trouble surfaced that
the DWP finally acted upon this, and they have belatedly reversed this process
where the council can stop housing benefit simply on the information being
phoned through from a civil servant at the DWP Jobcentre.
(6/10/2015)

'Minimum Wage fails to deliver on fairness or cut
poverty'

According to out of touch MP's and fat cat
Lawyers who do nicely by being paid by the government to invent these ludicrous
claims (What the Law says you have to live on), the minimum wage is barely a
minimum at all. A report by the Child Poverty Action Group is calling for
an increase in the so called minimum wage! in order that families on low incomes
have an acceptable existence (or could that be a chance with the selfish middle
class). The Group issued a 'Cost of a Child' report that showed a 11
percent weekly shortfall for a poor family raising two children. The worst
scenario was lone and single parents who had to manage a 20 percent shortfall
each week. A spokesperson indicated that rising prices on energy, food,
petrol and more were going up steadily without a word from the Tory Government,
whilst Teresa May still fixated on the hype of the minimum wage being fair,...to
who? one asks.....and that's where politicians and the well off go deaf and
blind, subjectively of course! (August 2018)

'The DWP - A Blight on Humanity'

We have been systematically going from case to
case in our own files and on the Internet concerning the Government's DWP and
Staff, the backroom civil servants etc, and what we are seeing and reading is
truly degrading, with Tory MP's in the frontline as the uncaring lot they are.
The rot seems to start with Iain Duncan-Smith, onto Chris Grayling, then to
Stephen Crabb and Justin Tomlinson...plus the Captain of the ship, David
Cameron. We see many cases of DWP Advisors 'stitching up claimants',
Sanctions that forfeit a claimants benefits, benefits removed for three months,
and assessments that almost carry 'Penal Sentences'. We also have several
suicides because of benefit changes all implemented since 2013, and thought of a
couple of years earlier! We have staff who make claimants suffer, lying
denials by managers and Ministers and much much more.
Go visit -
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2725807
Because we don't want to upset you by showing how awful this situation is from
this Tory Government. It's a scandal that that should not be happening in
2018, but it still goes on because the people of the UK couldn't care less!
They've swallowed the Tory lies and like the Tories themselves, believe them to
be true.

'DWP withholds benefit to Carer for 4 years'

In THE COURT OF APPEALS, The DWP were found to
have acted 'unlawfully' when they deliberately delayed paying a carer benefits
to which she was entitled, for 4 years? The Judge dismissed The Secretary
of State's appeal in this case of delays in paying social security benefits,
because it was an important case that had to be tried in order to show fairness
to the claimant and any other claimants going through a similar situation.
He ordered the DWP to quickly act on this and see that it was made right.
the case is: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Filecca
(2017)

'Complicit with the DWP says Claimant'

In this report (taken from a forum) we touch
upon the scandal of 'The Assessors' who have the power to ruin lives and cause
harm. In 2017, Peter (the claimant) had to attend an Assessment at which
he says was a total farce, and furthermore says the 'Health Professional' lied
numerous times, proving that she was complicit with the DWP. He
furthermore says the dates were changed and she deliberately painted a totally
false picture of his circumstances. Apart from the atmosphere in the room,
Peter says she treated him with total disrespect, and when he tried to explain
his personal situation and ask some pertinent questions, she got up and opened
the door and said 'On your bike, Mister' Peter suffers from acute back
pain and received spinal surgery, and still suffers ill health. Previously
he had a good work record of 30 years, but he found the experience humiliating,
demoralising, and in no way professional! (10/11/2017)

PS: We have many more like this and if need
be, we will feature more later.

'DWP waste £140 million on Universal Credit
Project'

This report comes as no surprise, as even in
2017 things were not going to plan. and even today the system is rather 'broke'
and needs more than just a fix. A DWP employee who wished to remain
anonymous says that the IT strategy is hampered by employees worrying about
whether the Press will approve their actions? and so they should be!....and so
should the Tory Government. The DWP IT Consultant admitted that he's
seen the destructive nature of the DWP's IT strategy first hand. He even
revealed the role of the DWP Lawyers who would write up a contract without even
consulting the IT people who would be responsible for overseeing it. He
told of the day he was at a meeting with a Supplier who said they'd have to
charge the DWP a considerable amount of money to do a PoC. He asked them
what this would mean in what they would get at the DWP, and the Supplier
replied, 'They were not sure what we're going to deliver, but we need this
amount of money' and the DWP paid up! He further revealed that the
DWP had paid out tens of millions in failed projects, and one of those big
suppliers was Fujitsu who were dropped because they failed to deliver.
The DWP refused to recognise any of this?
(25/11/2013)

'Universal Credit situation drives up the need
for more food banks'

Despite it's obvious failings and dubious
claims of fairness for all, it has now appeared on report as being the cause in
the need for more food banks as the Government push for its complete roll out no
matter what. THE TRUSSELL TRUST said its recent analysis showed that the
benefit transitions including moving onto Universal Credit, has already driven
up referrals to food banks of which the charity supports. 'The demand for
food banks has risen by 52% since the first year of the roll out, and the
outlook doesn't look good either' said a spokesperson. Emma Revie, Chief
Exec' to the Charity said as they look at the current plans for the next stage
of the roll-out, we're really worried that our network of 400 food banks could
see a big increase of people needing help. 'Leaving around 3 million claimants
to wait at least 5 weeks for a first payment, especially when we have already
decided they need support through the old benefits system or tax credits, is
just not good enough she added. (October 2018)

'Jobcentre woman suspended for lewd activities'

At a Hull Jobcentre, an unknown un-named
female DWP civil servant was caught on camera by neighbours in the building next
door having full sex with a G4S male officer in full view of the flats next door
to the centre. It was officially stated that both workers in the civil
service were suspended after a witness video was presented to the boss of the
Jobcentre. The DWP said that they were now carrying out a full
investigation into this matter. (26/10/2017)

'DWP artificially inflate number of jobs'

The Report says that the DWP have been accused
of a 'cover-up' after 'clearing one of its specialist welfare-to-work' providers
of fraudulent allegations. This situation was exposed when two DWP
whistleblowers, Perveen Sud and Reena Gour came forward in 2013 to describe how
the Work Choice Provider SWEETEC had been artificially inflating the number of
jobs it said it was finding for disabled people. They said Sweetec offered
Work Choice clients as 'free labour' to charities and other host organisations,
and then paid their wages for the next six months while allegedly pretending to
the DWP that their salaries were instead being paid by the host organisations.
Three organisations said how they had accepted disabled jobseekers for six month
placements, even though it was made clear to Sweetec that they were just
volunteer roles, they would not be paid, and there would be no jobs available at
the end of the six months.
Despite this, Sweetec, which carried out the Work Choice service in North and
West London having around 800 employees, is alleged to have logged the
'placements' as 'job outcomes' claiming payments from the government both at the
beginning and end of the six month periods. Sweetec was able to make a
profit because the amount it received from the DWP (thousands of pounds for
every client who completed six months in a job) was hundreds of pounds a month
more than it paid the clients who only had to work 20 hours a week at the
minimum wage to qualify for a 'job outcome' Both 'whistleblowers'
said they had positive evidence, but they were never called in for an interview
on the inquiry. The DWP said they hadn't found any fraud having taken
place, but without the evidence of the whistleblowers, that conclusion is
obvious and it calls into question that perhaps this was the outcome they wanted
in this sensitive area, and accountability had to be pushed away under the carpet
of secrecy. (5/5/2014)

'Fit-to-Work' decisions worry the tribunals'

This 1Oth of March Report in 2016 says that
more than half of the DWP 'assessed' decisions are not only wrong, but also
flawed, and that over a third of ESA claims decisions go to appeal. The
Tribunals found that most of those people who claimed they were ill at the
interview, were in fact, ill, as they claimed. Despite civil servants
taking the view that these people were either lying or feigning illness without
any real proof of it being so. Figures obtained from the DWP Tribunals
show that 52 percent of cases were overturned in favour of the claimants.

'Civil Servant Data Breaches Revealed'

The Document reveals that the HM COURTS
SERVICE staff breached the government database of personal information.
Local Authorities dismissed 26 employees in 2009 who snooped on data at the DWP
CIS (Customer Information System) which has 90 million records stored. An
F.O.I. exposed that 124 Council Employees breached the Data Protection Act in
2010. The Ministry of Justice confirmed that Courts Service Staff had
unlawfully accessed the CIS Database on 23 occasions in 2008, and it revealed
that 200,000 Public Sector Staff have regular access to the Public Citizens
Database. (16/7/2010)

'DWP Tribunal not fit for purpose!'

When attending the first 'tier' tribunal, Mrs
Kennedy said that she could see that one member of the Tribunal was sound asleep
when she was reading from her statement. She also noted that the Tribunal
adopted an 'Openly Sceptical' and 'Hostile' stand against her. She claims
yet they repeatedly interrupted her when she attempted to answer their
questions, and there was also 'facial expressions' of contemptuous disbelief as
a follow up. Angela Kennedy is disabled, and it was the errors that now
forced her to seek a Judicial Review in the High Court. Angela is on the
PIP benefit, and it was at an assessment where she encountered the ATOS
paramedic whose report failed badly to see how unwell she actually was.
She said 'he was guilty of serious omissions and errors of fact, and reasoning'
She said her condition was 'played down, which included several falls of a
serious nature, yet he failed to acknowledge or report on this. She
was denied access to the Upper Tribunal, so it left her with no other choice but
to take her case to the High Court. The DWP wouldn't comment?
(2/3/2017)

'DWP Minister McVey misleads The House of Commons'

Yes, here we have it again 'Misleads' a
cover-up for saying something untrue, and sorry seems to have worked again in
the Political World of game play and falsehoods. MP ESTHER McVEY issued an
apology to her friends in The House of Commons after categorically and calmly
misrepresenting a National Audit Report on 'UNIVERSAL CREDITS'. She issued
a quote saying that they had called for the rollout of Universal Credit to be
accelerated to all districts of the UK. Sir Amyas Morse, the Head of The
National Audit Office replied immediately by issuing an open letter to Ms McVey
saying that elements of her statement to Parliament on the Report were incorrect
and unproven. And he found it odd that she had done this when the truth of
the report had been fully agreed by senior officials at the DWP a few days
earlier. (15/6/2018)

NB McVey amazingly said she had
'Inadvertently' misled The House of Commons?

'Trail of destruction left by Universal Credits'

It appears that Civil Servant McVey doesn't
consult much at all when on the same day a report was issued by the NAO saying
that the scheme was unlikely to ever deliver value for money. The report
went onto say that it was costing four times more to administer each claim it
handled, and was failing to deliver the promises by Ministers that it will
result in increased employment. And we shall be showing you a case of how
sometimes they go about creating that false employment by deceit and
bullying....... so watch this space!

'THE LOCAL SERVICE COMPLIANCE TELEPHONE
INTERVIEW' (a.k.a Abuse of Trust and Power)

This incident contains the ingredients of 'the
conspiracy to take advantage of a vulnerable pensioner (third party) accompanied
by threats to sanction if the claimant failed to take advantage of this
position. Having said that, we will now go into the story......

This account is actually ongoing and an
end to it, and I mean 'a fair and satisfactory end' may not arise, as all
indications point to this being brushed under the carpet.
'BASED ON THE INFORMATION THAT YOU PROVIDED, WE UPHOLD YOUR COMPLAINT ON A
NUMBER OF ISSUES' is the acknowledgement from the Complaint Resolution Manager
(Counter Fraud and Compliance Directorate) on the 30th August 2018, signed by
Judith Lord.

The Complaint was against a seasoned DWP
Officer KATHERINE GRAY.

The charges levelled at her is
'Incitement to take advantage of a pensioner' -- 'Incitement to commit/attempt a
fraud' --- 'Unlawful pressure to dissuade a person from claiming by bullying
behaviour'

This is the account of how this came
about ' The telephone interview was on the 24th of July 2018 at 4-30pm.
What began as routine quickly went from questions on how the claimant's work
search was going to the subject of capital, and a matter that had already been
satisfactorily dealt with at an earlier time by the Benefits Centre.
Investigators confirmed that there was no need for this line of questioning and
that this was an omission on their part (Katherine Gray) for which they were
sorry. However, Katherine Gray laboured on the finance dropping a hint
that it had been looked at by the Benefits Fraud Division (and HMRC)..... in her
determination to get the upper hand she suggested that the finance already
settled should be taken back from the investor and used as income. This of
course was rejected as it bordered on a type of fraud. She was not
satisfied by this nor that the Jobcentre were happy with the claimant's attempts
to find work, and made a sarcastic comment indicating that wouldn't do for her.
Sadly, things escalated further when the claimant said he watched out for the
pensioner whose house he lived in, and that the pensioner; who feared being left
alone for long periods, offered to help the claimant with fifty pounds out of
his pension. The claimant had already approached the CAB on the
possibility of being a paid carer, but it turned out that the pensioner would
not qualify, and the claimant already guessed the pensioner could not afford to
pay the offer indefinitely anyway. Katherine Gray seized upon this and
declared the offer as a job opportunity when no such situation had arisen or
been discussed with the pensioner. She was told several times this was not
a job offer, to which she then rolled out 'the threat' that she could sanction
the claimant for not 'taking the job' and continued to get more aggressive about
the power she had. She finally suggested that the claimant should consider
taking this money to get off the Jobcentre signing and that he would not have to
put up with pressure from her department or DWP, which would work out well for
both parties.

The Investigators acknowledged that some
of the questioning used and comments made during the interview 'were not of a
standard we would expect from one of our Compliance Officers' and that it
was quite inappropriate for Ms Gray to discuss what the 3rd person should do or
not do without proper consultation.

Time-wise - this complaint was tracked
through what one could call 'the gauntlet' and it is still in that mode as this
goes to publication. There were several phone calls back and forth
involving the DWP, ...with Kim in the Lowestoft Service Centre for the initial
start of the complaint, then Laurie O'Connor (14th August) and onto Judith Lord
(30th August) who sent the official findings letter with an apology. She
did mention that the matter of Katherine Gray and decision to do what? was to be
dealt with in confidence between employer and employee because of Data Law.
Which was rather disappointing, especially as they investigated themselves and
judged themselves in all aspects of this complaint.

The Complainant decided that the
seriousness of this case should not end at this 'resolution' went online to the
complaints system on the 19th of September 2018 and activated the complaint to
be taken to the next level.

An 'automated reply' said in regard to
the complaint -- 'Your e-mail has been sent to the appropriate department'

It is now almost November, and there has
been no further progress of the complaint or a 'live' reply from any party in
the DWP.

PS: Katherine Gray should not be
conducting interviews with any claimant, no matter what excuses the DWP offer up
as being necessary for the Department to deter fraud or otherwise.
(they also suggested in mitigation for her appalling behaviour that she was
stressed?)

NOTE - Amazingly, the interview was
not recorded, whereas we've been told by another Centre, that all outbound
conversations are recorded?

There are others like Ms Gray in the DWP
and HMRC.....have no doubt about that.

'Woman given the 'runaround' by DWP and the
Benefits Staff'

In our trawl of the Web, we came across this
case.....A woman only just known by her 'handle' ek82 tells the story of how her
benefits were stopped after an 'error' that she was blamed for? They also
could not, and would not, tell her how another address was lodged onto her claim
without her knowledge. With her claim suspended, staff ignored her
financial loss and sat back to see what happened, whereas in fact they ignored
her saying she had no grounds for a complaint against them. They continued
to make her life hell which affected her health. She lives in Sheffield,
so it musty be a Sheffield Job Centre. The bogus address was 'Newcastle'
uploaded by a mystery element no-one was interested in following up. She
spent a week of stress and emotional upset, yet, as usual, these culprits of
heavyhandedness and jobsworth continued to pretend they were not to blame.
There was no sign of an apology in this case, which is a typical factor in DWP
matters. We could not find a resolution.....so we will provide a link --
consumeractiongroup.co.uk

'Severely disabled man has benefits stopped'

Sadly, there are no exceptions when it comes
to the DWP as we see here -- Cerebral Palsey sufferer STEVE EVANS of Newport
found himself in dire straits with his benefits cut by the DWP staff in a case
that hit the BBC News.... which exposed the civil servants and DWP for its awful
actions concerning his benefits claim. Steve, a wheelchair user told the
News Team it all started with a letter from the DWP telling him to apply for
PIP, the replacement benefit for the Disability Living Allowance. His
first application got lost in the post? So he was put under severe
pressure to do another one ASAP, which he has to have help with doing. The
DWP said they'd sent three letters to him, but Steve couldn't open them due to
his illness. Shortly after his benefit was stopped and things went
downhill, his doctor said they should have referred to his medical notes,
because what staff did was unethical. As a result of this and the BBC
getting involved, an investigation is being launched. In the time length
of non-payment to Steve, he racked up debts of three thousand five hundred
pounds. The BBC said the DWP had now paid him and realised things
had gone wrong!! (18/5/2018)

'DWP Officials 'not worried' over Universal
Credits'

A report says that the hardship concerns
created by Universal Credits does not concern them or cause worry, as they
firmly believe someone somewhere will think they did good? Apparently,
Politicians and local councillors aired their concerns over the rolling out of
Universal Credit in the Cleveland and Redcar areas. It said that local
'surgeries' for MP's and council visitors were experiencing problems with
benefit claims arising out of the new Universal Credit, and that some could not
log on and were left to visit the Jobcentre or Citizens Advice to get to know
what they could do because they were worried about delays in payments and unsure
what benefits they were entitled to. (12/7/2018)

'Cuts to disabled man's benefit lefty him in a
suicidal state'

CLAIMANT Charlie Evans was yet another victim
of the DWP and Jobcentre, one of the many this Conservative Government cares
very little about. In this case they took away his adapted car due to
changes in disability benefits it is stated. Charlie from Wales, is
paralysed down one side of his body following brain injuries. The shock
was bad enough, let alone the callous civil servants actions. This
situation obviously led to severe depression, and he didn't talk to anyone for
weeks he says. They told him if he still needed and wanted use of the car
he could buy it? They suggested a figure of ten thousand pounds, but he
had used up what savings he had, and as we know, this lot don't like you to have
savings unless you live on them and don't bother signing on. So how they
could ask for that sum only shows how they think and you can see how they assess
savings in their rules of 2013. Unfortunately we have no outcome on
this matter, only that Ian Duncan-Smith is one of the perpetrators of this
modern evil. (12/12/2017)

Good News on Appeals --- 8,000 claimants have won over 'unnecessary benefit
cuts' at the Tribunals. This mainly applies to disabled claimants across
Wales in 2017.

'Two High Court Actions against DWP prove that
claimants were unlawfully discriminated against'

Two severely handicapped claimants have won
against the DWP and proved that they had been 'Unlawfully Discriminated
Against'. Although the Judge rejected a challenge against the legality of
the new scheme, he did rule that both men , who both suffered a 'dramatic
drop' in benefits as a result of the scheme when they moved to a different local
authority area and were required to claim Universal credit, they were
discriminated against under Human Rights Laws. It was said that both men
suffered a drop of nearly two hundred pounds each of monthly income, which was
having a serious detrimental impact on their health and well-being; and they
were now unable to meet many of their basic needs. The barrister for one
of the men said this roll-out should be halted and halted now so that no-one
else suffered hardship and having to take court action to get what they should
be getting. (15/6/2018)

'Judicial Review orders DWP to correct ESA
Errors'

The Report into these 'Errors' by the DWP are
to be corrected, and they will have to pay out an extra 150,000,000 pounds in up
to 70,000 cases being dealt with currently. It says between 2011 and 2017
the DWP 'underpaid' more than 450,000,000 pounds in 'means-tested' benefits due
to what has been termed 'Mishandling' the process which claimants were moved
from Incapacity benefit to Employment and Support Allowance. Before the
Judicial Review the DWP said the Law 'barred' them from paying claimants any of
the money wrongly kept or taken in the process. They also covered this
situation with assertions to 'capital' and other considerations designed to
misdirect and confuse! However, at a Judicial Review they were forced to
admit that there was no barring and they'd got it wrong!
(Judicial Review March 2018)

'DWP and Government refuse to listen say
Charities'

A spokesman for a major charity said that the
Government were no longer listening to the plight of the claimants because they
were too busy trying to prove that Universal Credit was working when it was
clearly not. Citizens Advice Bureau said that many claimants were
struggling to survive as a result of these changes, and that many of them were
seeking advice from the CAB. Volunteers at the Food Banks also warned that
they had an everyday increase in people, single and families queuing up for
boxes and bags of food. Sue White, a co-ordinator at a local Foodbank said
that the need for their service had gone up 52 percent in recent months, and
showed no signs of a slowdown. It's going up by 15 per cent a year
throughout the country and this is very worrying. 'It's a race on to fill
our shelves and we can only hope the supermarkets will continue to give us stuff
while the need continues' she said.

'Computer
and It system for UC is causing errors say operators'

It has been revealed in a report that the
computer programme running Universal Credit, that Service Engineers said the
system is now contaminated with errors and glitches, in what they describe
'cobbled together. Centre workers operating the system say that their are
flaws in the programme that are highly likely to generate mistakes which could
lead to hardship for claimants if it isn't sorted out in time. It's
already known that benefit payments are being delayed for weeks or wrongly
reduced by hundreds of pounds.

'Benefit changes the DWP don't want you to know'

This report although five years old still has
some mileage left and worth a visit, and it was put up onto the Internet by THE
NEW STATESMAN with an apt photo of Iain Duncan-Smith attached dubbed the 5 years
of evil....which is more or less correct. It leads with a sub-heading of
'FIVE BENEFIT CHANGES THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT.
They start with the most evil measure, which is the reduction in the Appeal
Channel Process which means the claimant must ask the DWP to reconsider a
decision before lodging an 'official appeal', and they the claimant, RECEIVE NO
MONEY in the meantime. This process known throughout the DWP and HMRC is
called the 'Mandatory Reconsideration' designed to stall and slow down the
amount of appeals lodged by claimants. There is a whole lot more to this,
so we are going to give you the link to that because it is worth reading and
quite long! And if you're on benefits then you probably want to know.

This report applies to the Appeal Tribunals
--- Some Ministers were appalled to discover that the DWP had spent huge sums of
Public money 'defending' their actions to strip benefits from the sick and
disabled. One Minister described it as 'a traumatic experience' when
people were condemned to go before an Appeals Tribunal....and a waste of time
and money!' The Report via a Freedom of Information Request shows
how the Department spent nearly 40 million pounds in attempting to reduce or
deny disabled people getting their money, and they literally spent whatever it
took to get their way even though it was taxpayers money. MP Frank Field
said 'It is appalling that the DWP were prepared to spend so much money against
people who are desperately fighting off destitution' In 2016,
they spent 22 million pounds processing claimant's initial appeals against
sanctions, a stage they must go through and pass before going to a tribunal.
(August 2017)

'DWP Ministers Gauke and Couling face
Committee Questioning'

DWP Minister David Gauke and Civil Servant
Director Neil Couling faced MP's over the subject of the 'Universal Credit
Fiasco' -- Chairman FRANK FIELD of the Work and Pensions Committee said ' Given
everything we have heard, I was surprised that David Gauke opted to proceed with
the accelerated Roll Out. I strongly suspect his decision, together with
the failure to tell us anything, reflects a culture at the DWP of those most
invested in Universal Credit not telling anyone, including their Ministers, bad
news' Tory MP DAVID GAUKE The Work and
Pensions Secretary along with Civil Servant NEIL COULING the Director General of
Universal Credit were appearing before a special committee of MP's to answer
questions about the problems of Universal Credit, especially the excessive
delays. Couling is rumoured to apparently resent any criticism of the
Universal Credit Scheme. (18/10/2017)

'A lying Lawyer? heavens to Betsy, it's a Labour
MP'

Yes, there are plenty of lying and thieving
Lawyers around, and in this case it is a Labour MP FIONA ONASANYA a former
Lawyer, one of those civil servants we're meant to trust. MP's of course
do lie frequently and this is turned into 'error' or 'misleading' instead of
what it is. And how do these interpretations come about, well there's no
secret there, it's the Lawyers who play word monopoly and take huge fees for
doing so. In this case Labour MP Fiona found herself facing two charges 1)
Perverting the course of justice 2) Conspiracy to deceive. She apparently
with her brother tried to pass on 'speeding points' to her brother so that she
wouldn't be found out. (this will appear in featured lawyers too)
July 2018.

And whilst we're on the subject of former
Lawyers, here's another one below (Labour Party again)

' BLAIR'S PURGE ON CORRUPTION IN TOWN HALLS '

This appeared many moons ago, an anti-sleaze
commission was to be formed. ' Open Government ' and all that guff, it was
another lie. It was supposed to be a purge on 20,000 councillors and
senior executives, it was to investigate serious allegations of malpractice and
have proper standards of behaviour. It was to be overseen by Lawyers? oh
dear, ( see them in the other files go to index).

A list appeared naming Labour Councils -
Birmingham, Coventry, Doncaster, Glasgow, Hull, Tyneside, Hackney in London,
Paisley, South Tyneside etc, it should have included Torbay, Waltham Forest,
Havant and Hastings.

'BLAIR'S LIES' -- Amazingly, this man can lie
very competently, and being a qualified Lawyer, it certainly rings true....you
can seek his lawyer background in Durham. And I've met a man who knew him
there! But most recently, he declared that a report on him in a book by
Michael Wolff was not true and never had been, and even in front of the cameras
said it was made up and dismissed it in his usual arrogant sneaky way. It
concerned an item in which he warned Donald Trump's aides that British
Intelligence had spied on the US President' which Blair said was 'a complete
fabrication from beginning to end'....the book which looks at Donald Trump's
administration. Before we return to this, one has to remember 'Blair's lie
on The Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Arak War when Britain was pulled into
a conflict by Prime Minister Blair who later ducked and dived to dodge questions
on it. He was called to account for his actions and the misleading
statements several times but slithered away, and event some British People tried
to bring him to court, but failed due to 'Parliamentary Privilege' which can be
used in a multitude of sins...like it did with Nixon and Watergate in the USA,
he walked away while some of his team went to jail....and yes folks, Nixon was a
Lawyer. Coming back to Blair, a rebuttal of his claim has now
emerged, 'BLAIR'S SECRET WHITEHOUSE SUMMIT' and he denied ever being involved in
a Whitehouse meeting or phone call about the spy thing. Michael
Wolff says the former UK PM may have made the claim to gain favour with Donald
Trump having once been so close to The Clintons when Bill Clinton was the
President. The Mail said they categorically know that Blair had secretly
visited the White House in a bid to win a new role as a Middle East Advisor (and
his Middle East connections are well known about) to the President. Blair
has already been an ex-envoy to the Middle East, another one of his lucrative
jobs since leaving office. Wolff says that Blair held talks with the
President's senior advisor, Jared Kushner, and had met Donald Trump in person.
Blair was always a 'Conservative' Labour man, and that becomes clearer everyday
as he follows the money every time.

THE 'UNACCOUNTABLE' BLAIR who fooled most of
the people for a long time still persists he doesn't lie while all those that
were victims of his schemes certainly would testify that he did and still
continues to do so. This multi- millionaire crossover Labour/Conservative
in sheep's clothing rejects that he lied in the White House Book that claims he
did. Michael Wolff said he himself had witnessed Blair 'sucking up' to
Donald Trump's son-in-law/senior advisor Jared Kushner, and he branded Mr Blair,
'A complete liar' For Mr Blair to be so 'untouchable' as he is now and
was, clearly points to unseen others who are able to wield enough power to
manipulate the law and political arena, and as to the law side, don't forget he
has a wife who is in the top corridors of law and he himself trained to be a
lawyer in Durham, so the connection is there on that already, and politically he
has allies in the Labour movement who consider him worthy of their support.
Many people cannot understand how he got away with what he did on the 'Iraq War'
thing, but he's not the first politician to walk away from something that went
wrong without any penalty, Cameron did this too, immediately after the
Referendum.

'Cameron questioned over links to off-shore tax
havens'

PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON faced yet another
inquiry into his connections, and that of his family as a second firm is
revealed in the scandal of off-shore investments that avoid tax.
Investigations revealed that Ian Cameron was investing in an off-shore tax haven
in Jersey, and that he was a Director of the Jersey-based Close International
Equity Growth Fund, and held 6,000 shares himself. Cameron's denial of
benefitting from such family interests have been a series of such statements
coming from No 10. But one Labour MP said 'he refuses to put the matter
straight' and by way of an additional item GEORGE OSBORNE the Chancellor
completely dodged all questions to whether he had any off-shore investments?

'Tory Donor Jailed over Ponzi Scheme'

They say you can be characterised by the
friends you keep, and this could well be true of the Tory politicians as news
breaks that a major Donor of the Conservative Party, FORMER BANKER FREDDY DAVID
who ran HBFS Financial Services was jailed by Southwark Crown Court for
swindling victims out of Fourteen million pounds plus in a Ponzi Scheme where he
held on to investors money in a high-interest account and spent it on a life of
luxury. It is stated that he gave thousands to the Conservative Party said
to be eighteen thousand plus, and even though questions were asked his wife
seemed to believe there was 'no wrongdoing' attached to him or herself.
Interestingly, it is also stated that his wife is currently listed as a director
of the Conservative Party Policy Exchange, and that wife Hannah was a
Conservative Councillor in Hertfordshire, later stepping down to run as a
Parliamentary candidate for Harrow West in 2015 t0 2017. Freddy David was
jailed for 6 years for the fraud....he was said to be 'a well respected member
of the community'.......isn't that just the case? (July 2018)

'Tory MP appears in court over election campaign
'overspending'

TORY MP CRAIG MACKINLAY, along with his
election agent Nathan Gray have been accused of submitting 'woefully inaccurate'
expenditure returns when they appeared at Southwark Crown Court. Also
mentioned is Party Activist Marion Little who it is said encouraged and assisted
the offence. In court it was heard that the overspending was to ensure
that Nigel Farage's parliamentary ambitions failed. It is said that the
Conservative put in extra cash to win the Kent seat, because UKIP was gaining
big support. Declared spending by the Tories was said to be just under
52,000 pounds which is the bench mark and legal limit for the Constituency.
But it later turned out that around a further 66,000 pounds had not been
declared....apart from this in the murky world of Tory Politics, it was further
suggested that two declarations were not true, and there was the matter of the
alleged Mr Gray's signature on the long return having been
'fabricated'........the trial goes on (17/10/2018)

'Government okay spending bill of £10 million on
pro-EU leaflets'

CAMERON called the EU Referendum almost sure
he would win it, but he edged his bets by spending almost £10 million of the
taxpayers money on trying to used propaganda to win his argument in the shape of
leaflets decidedly pro-EU. He ordered that the nation's households should
receive this 'spam' no matter what. Leave campaigners described this move
as 'disgraceful' It was a 16 page glossy leaflet that was full of
praise for the EU laced with the usual lamentations about what horrors would
happen.....the only horror here is the Conservatives.

'Cameron charges £12,000 for a dinner date with
possible client'

Yes, this is 'Call me Dave' the man who didn't
show much concern for a young jobseekers death (David Clapson) when questioned
by Andrew Marr on his Sunday BBC Political show. Here he is 'on sale for
£12,000' Another typical Tory where money comes first, the report says you
can have your photo taken with him and dinner for this staggering amount.
(see case 'Claimant contacts Police about DWP Harassment' for the awful case of
David Clapson who died without a penny)

PS. Apparently it only costs £330,000 if you book
Tony Blair for a speech.......he's another conservative hiding in a Labour
jacket.

'Osborne says -- the Civil Servants were to blame
for Carillion Collapse'

The former Chancellor to David Cameron, a man
who jumped ship and took on six other lucrative jobs including the Editorship of
The Standard in London, attacked civil servants for their role in the scandal
that brought down the massive company of CARILLION, one that was brimming with
government contracts. He said it was their 'outsourcing of deals' that
were to blame for risking taxpayers cash. And laughingly excused
Ministers...yet he was the minister who oversaw outsourcing increase by £64
billion to £120 billion during his first five years as the Chancellor in the
Conservative Party. The number of government contracts given to Carillion
went from 526 in 2010, to 1,185 in 2015 - as he signed off the deals?
Apparently he was praising the firm and the deals brokered and some like Dubai
were a staggering £75 million, and he once said 'it's great to see such
successful companies like Carillion winning contracts around the world'
A report says this man is being paid £650,000 a year from working one day a week
for the world's largest fund management company 'Blackrock', which is thought to
have accrued £40 million in profits by betting on the collapse of Carillion.
Jeremy Corbin challenged Prime Minister May over the contacts, saying that
Labour handed the firm a third of those contracts when Blair was in
Office.......but that leaves two-thirds of the deals being done by the Tory
governments and that's twice as much, but she obviously hopes nobody in the
public domain has noticed!

In addition, the bosses of the failed firm are
to get their bonuses. Ex-Chief Richard Howson was given a bonus of
£591,000 in 2016, before quitting last year, and he's still on a salary of
£660,000, which he will still get until October 2018.

1000's of workers have a depleted pension pot
that still has no guarantees of being secured, many will lose their jobs, and
hundreds of little firms will probably not get paid.

It was also revealed that the Chairman of
Carillion was Philip Green an Advisor at N0 10 Downing Street...The PM's
residence and Cabinet. And he was dealing with Corporate Responsibility?
apparently he got a CBE in 2014.

The Tory Government deny being at fault, and
still pretend to care!

Osbourne, a man who we don't care for, is a
treasure seeker and multi-millionaire who's words on this matter are tainted and
insincere. It was the fault of the government and the civil servants, and
that is the true picture for the taxpayer who will now have to pay for this
scandal. (January 2016)

Osborne, still the prat, appeared on TV to say
that Universal Credit however awful it may seem, is right, choosing to
ignore that many will be poorer as a result of it, (2018)
(see also THE GREAT PENSIONS ROBBERY)

'Labour MP on Speeding Charge'

LABOUR MP FIONA ONASANYA appeared at The Old
Bailey accused of 'Lying' about who was driving her car when she was caught
speeding on a camera. She was also charged with 'Perverting the course of
justice' after misinforming the police about who was actually driving the
vehicle at the time. The Peterborough MP denies any 'wrongdoing' and is
due to appear in court again in October 2018.

'Former Tory MP tells Press he wouldn't vote
Tory'

You don't get many of these to the pound, a
Conservative die-hard saying if he had to vote, it wouldn't be for the Tories.
Former Tory MP for Plymouth, Johnny Mercer, former Army Officer in another life,
said he would not vote for the Party if he were an MP, he said that the Tories
were being led by 'technocrats and managers' who were exposing the party to
ridicule over the Brexit situation, and said that he no longer identified with
the Tory Party's values. (Oct 2018)
(Interview with The House Magazine)

'Civil Servants upset by accusations to an
already tarnished reputation'

This report begins with item 1, 'MINISTER
ACCUSED OF MALIGNING CIVIL SERVICE' something we say here, cannot be achieved
because they have no real reputation to consider. Apparently, Brexit
Minister Steve Baker spoke out in the House of Commons, saying that 'civil
servants were attempting to orchestrate a softer Brexit' He said 'they
were distorting the forecasts and he also said their forecasts were always
wrong.' The FDA Union for civil servants said his comments were
irresponsible. But alas. there was more from the Cabinet Secretary Tory
Lord Gus O'Donnell who made a comparison of 'snake oil'. He said 'the
civil service seemed to be facing 'one of the most sustained attacks on
its integrity in living memory by serving ministers.' TORY MP JACOB
REES-MOGG hit out at the Civil Service (Feb 2018). He says 'that they are
manipulating figures to discourage the government from Brexit. I do think
they're manipulating the figures' he said publicly on the BBC Radio 4 programme
with Nick Robinson.

The Tory MP JACOB REES-MOGG has been finally
exposed to be one of those who are benefitting from super returns on their money
in the off shore tax haven scenario. A report says that he made $680,000
dollars from a deal in 2011 while working for an off-shore investment firm.
Investigators looked into his company called SALISTON, that once belonged to his
father, and that holds his stake in the firm SOMERSET MANAGEMENT, a markets fund
he co-founded in 2007. It revealed that Somerset is managed by
subsidiaries in the tax havens of The Cayman Islands and SINGAPORE. He
quickly retorted by saying there was nothing illegal in this, but one must
consider that his name appears in the PARADISE PAPERS, a scandal that some are
trying to suppress.

'More Tory MP's in extra high earning activities
deny wrongdoing?'

There seems to be something iffy about the way
MP's caught out immediately run to the Government handbook and say 'we did no
wrong' but remain steadfast around the money pot with its fumes of capital
allurance. We now have a report that highlights Tory ex-ministers selling
advice on the Brexit issue. Three former ministers, Health Secretary, Lord
Lansley, Senior Tory MP Andrew Mitchell and Peter Lilley were secretly recorded
on camera with 'a Chinese firm' (Channel 4's Investigators with Dispatches)
offering their services for cash about the Uk Government's approach to Brexit.
Lansley said he could offer 'intelligence info' for £4,400 a day suggesting they
employ him through his wife's company to avoid scrutiny or anybody getting the
wrong idea. All three were quick to point out that their actions did not
breach the 'Nolan' Principles and guidelines for those in public office.
So there you are, three ex-Cabinet Ministers doing what comes naturally!

'Former Tory Culture Secretary faces scrutiny
over £3,000 flight'

CAMERON'S former CULTURE SECRETARY JOHN
WHITTINGDALE has raised the alarm bells in political circles over his visits to
meet up with the controvercial Ukrainian oligarch wanted by the USA on suspicion
of corruption. The report says that Whittingdale accepted the offer of flights
to Vienna worth £3,000 from the oligarch Dmitry Firtash, who is unable to leave
the country because he is fighting a US extradition request to face trial
in the USA. Mr Whittingdale and his spokesperson declined to comment on
why the flights were so expensive and whether they were made by private jet.
Comments from his own Party do not exactly favour his connection with the
oligarch, and one said it was in bad judgement.

'Tory Spending in election investigated by 12
Police Forces'

The 2015 election was as some put it, fought
under a cloud of unusual spending, which was not properly declared according to
investigators looking into the 'Tory Battle Bus' campaign. The Report says
that Police from twelve forces have passed on files to The Crown Prosecution
Service as part of an inquiry into the 'Conservatives Campaign' expenses for the
2015 General Election. There were suggestions and a number of accusations
saying that strict spending limits were breached by the Tory Party.
Colchester MP Will Quince was interviewed by the police, and a second Tory MP
had been questioned about expenses. A CPS spokesperson said that all the
files they had been sent were now all under consideration.

'MP Danczuk is banned from Labour Party'

THE DISGRACED LABOUR MP SIMON DANCZUK is no
longer wanted in the Labour Party and why is this? Well, he was suspended
for sending explicit text messages to a 17 year old girl.....in 2015 by all
accounts, and his party have unanimously voted that he should not be able to
stand as a Labour candidate. And apparently his wife, Karen, failed in her
bid to stand for election as a Labour candidate in Bury North. Danczuk was
a Rochdale MP...for those who wish to know.

' Boris Johnson - Monster, Manipulator? or what'

TORY MP BORIS JOHNSON does many irritating
things they say, some suggest he creates havoc and switches whenever he needs
public support like the recent NHS criticism he threw at his own party at a time
when he had made several previous gaffs in office as Foreign Secretary to the
Cabinet. A recent report said that Johnson sidestepped questions put to
him about resigning? after hinting that he might resign if The UK failed
to make free trade deals in the Brexit situation in Europe. And in another
article they accused Johnson of leading a charge for a Liberal Brexit, which was
said to be a most deceitful theme. In the midst of this one must
acknowledge that he was on the day of the Referendum one of the main figureheads
of the 'Leave Campaign' It was also a fact that he endangered a woman held
prisoner in Iran by the remarks he made, which could have got Nazanin
Zaghari-Ratcliffe a longer sentence. There are many people trying to get her
freed and he was asked to correct his serious mistake. But if that isn't
enough to wonder about the 'real Boris Johnson' the next article will, and this
is an article that came out in 2013 with the Press headline -- 'YOU'RE A NASTY
PIECE OF WORK, AREN'T YOU BORIS' something probably not remembered now,
and the Tories will have thought it gone....well, it hasn't, we need that here.
It all happened on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show when he interviewed the then Mayor
of London, Boris Johnson. The BBC interviewer Eddie Mair accused him of 'a
bare-faced lie' and went onto saying 'You're a nasty piece of work, aren't you
Boris' as the show revealed that Johnson became flustered and struggled to
answer several questions about his past which included notorious incidents
including his 'sacking' from the Times newspaper in the late 1980's for making
up a quote before moving on to the then Tory leader Michael Howard's decision to
sack Johnson from his front bench team in 2004 for failing to tell the truth
about his affair with the journalist Petronella Wyatt. But Eddie Mair did not
finish there, he went onto reveal a notorious incident in 1990 when Boris
Johnson was recorded in secret telling old Etonian fraudster Darius Guppy that
he would help him obtain the address of a journalist that Mr Guppy wanted to
have 'beaten-up'. Johnson continued to duck most of the questions and
later denied doing any wrong. As someone recently suggested, well, Andrew
Neil, 'Boris could well have been using the NHS good guy stand for his own ends
and political strategy'- so you'll have to make up your own mind on Johnson?

'Minister Jo Johnson is accused of 'reneging' on
rail pledge'

Another member of the Johnson clan here, and a
recent report says 'The Rail Minister' has reneged on a promise he made to the
people. But we shouldn't be surprised because pledges are rarely kept by
politicians and History shows this to be true. It is said that he told the
House and Ministers that the Trans-Pennine route upgrade would be made later in
the year, pending consideration of a Network Rail Report. He also
announced to Ministers that the huge 2.9billion pound project would include
'major civil engineering projects and electrification' but stopped short
of guaranteeing the latter. But it appears his commitments after failing
to confirm plans to fully electrify the Manchester to Leeds route now leaves the
whole thing in doubt and has had a nasty blow for the people in the North.

'Can the Government be trusted? as Department
keeps 'mum' over Oxfam Incident'

Secrets of course, are a Governments games,
and they go to great lengths to hide certain facts from the public....so it
isn't a surprise to learn that the Tory Government knew of the 'sex abuse story
in relation to aid workers' some months before. A report tells us that
Senior Officials in Government were already aware of certain activities, but did
nothing about them. The main attack against civil servants goes to the
Dept for International Development. Secretary for State Priti Patel says
that' Civil Servants knew about widespread sex abuse in the aid sector.'

'THE KETTLE CALLING THE POT BLACK' -- It's
quite rich for the Tory Government to announce that OXFAM are more interested in
covering their backs rather than coming clean over the scandal. The Tory
Government and previous governments have always done the same in every event
when they are called to own up and they never do. The Tories talk of
transparency and accountability whilst consulting their lawyers about 'damage
limitation' and hiding as much as they can from the public and official
inquiries, it's second nature to these civil servants to run and hide whilst
claiming immunity and other such protections they awarded themselves.
There are many scandals about to surface and ones that have done, and they all
have an element of local services and government civil servants attached, but
Brexit is being used as a shield while the scandals conveniently drop out of the
news.

NB However, have no fear, we shall
mention them all here, each one, so they'll not be brushed under the Whitehall
carpet.

Before we begin tackling the list above, we feel this
old scandal should begin the sordid story of Political Corruption and who were
the participants in the cover-ups?.

'For five years we bugged and burgled our
way across London on The State's behalf, while pompous civil servants in
Whitehall pretended to look the other way' THIS WAS THE BY-LINE OF A BOOK CALLED 'SPYCATCHER' BY PETER
WRIGHT FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF MI5.

This was the book that Maggie Thatcher didn't
want published, and the British Government did all it could to stop it being
sold or seen. Peter Wright was a Senior Intelligence Officer who caused 'a
storm' when it was known he had written a book called 'SPYCATCHER' written by
him and his friend Paul Greengrass. Wright told the World that his
Government Agency operated outside the Law where the only rule they had to
observe was 'thou shalt not get caught' which is of course something spies
must do as their country will abandon them in order to save face and say they
didn't know about it, something we know happens with America's CIA.
Strangely enough, Peter Wright was upfront on his book even though it did upset
and reveal things that were not palatable, he did assure the government that he
had been careful to avoid disclosing anything which would adversely affect
national security. So why was the British Government keen on suppressing
his story? if it contained no real threat, why were they so keen to see
this book buried?

Before we move onto the list of scandals the
government has had a hand in, we were supplied with the following 'OMBUDSMAN
RESIGNS' implicating certain government figures and a nod towards THE WINDRUSH
SITUATION:

On the 4th July, 2016 Dame Julie Mellor resigned as the Ombudsman followingadamning
report by
Sir Alex Allan criticising her for not taking swift and appropriate action when
informed that her Deputy Ombudsman, Mick Martin had been named in an
employment tribunal and found to have conspired with others to cover up a sexual
harassment case whilst at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. When
these facts were released into the public domain by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Mick
Martin resigned before any internal inquiry was carried out.

Losing both the Deputy Ombudsman and Ombudsman under a cloud of collusion
brought into sharp focus the leadership qualities required in an Ombudsman, the
final arbitrator for disputes with public bodies. Public confidence requires the
utmost integrity from such a senior public servant and a commitment to uphold
theNolan
Principals of Public Life .

Indeed Sir Alex Allan concluded his report with the following statement
regarding a 'fit and proper person test'.

[72] In the NHS, staff employed at director level are required to pass a "fit
and proper" test before they are appointed. The regulations provide that the
individual must be of good character, have the necessary competencies, and not
have been responsible for, been privy to, contributed to or facilitated any
serious misconduct or mismanagement. The Financial Conduct Authority
similarly has a "fit and proper" test for those in the financial sector, and
there are examples in other areas too.

Amanda Campbell
was appointed as CEO at the Ombudsman's office in October 2016 effectively
replacing Mick Martin as Deputy Ombudsman. It is not known if she has ever been
asked to pass the 'fit and proper person' test or certify that she was meeting
the Nolan Principals as required by PHSO following Sir Alex Allan's report. [74]What
is known is that Amanda Campbell came to PHSO from the Home Office where she had
worked for the previous 31 years and most recently as Director General of
Immigration Enforcement role she took up in February 2014 during the time of Theresa May's'hostile
environment policy'

As Director General of Immigration Enforcement Amanda Campbell
was in a key leadership role during the time that the Windrush generation were being detained and deported, as it turned out illegally.
The Joint Committee on Human
Rights, chaired by Harriet Harman and the Home
Affairs Committee chaired by Yvette Cooper both found that the Home Office had
acted illegally by detaining and deporting British Citizens on a 'deport first, appeal later' basis
and breached their human rights by failing to provide the evidence and support
which proved their right to live and work in the UK.

We begin this expose on SCANDALS, within the UK
Government, Whitehall, MI5, Police and Civil Servant Collusion, by going to a
conveniently small out of the way article from Northern Ireland (still run by
The British Government?) which has a subheading of 'ARREST OF REPORTERS IS
CONDEMNED' For those unaware, there was a programme (film) called
'NO STONE UNTURNED' a documentary in which investigative reporters examined the
'unrelenting claims' of STATE COLLUSION involved in the murder of six men --
'The Loughinisland Killings' in 1994. Families of the victims in the
massacre - when Loyalists opened fire in the crowd, are still of the opinion
that this was a 'planned effort' run by a 'higher and organised power'
Journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey who worked on the documentary
tirelessly have now been suddenly 'arrested' for what the authorities are saying
'The suspected theft of confidential documents related to the Loughinisland
Killings -- which not only tells us that there was a collusion, but some damning
facts that the British Government want kept a secret!
Obviously, not all of the stones were turned over, and despite the programme's
aim, the State has yet again come in with a heavy hand to enforce damage
limitation!

Note: for more on the subject of Northern Ireland,
the players and what went down, look for work by the above journalists and
Patrick Bishop/Eamonn Mallie.

'THE CARILLION SCANDAL' -- Much has been said
about the collapse of this Government sponsored 'White Elephant' -- CARILLION'
so we will keep this fairly brief. When Carillion was about to go bust,
despite the share crash of 30% and its affect on the stock market, the
Government acted as if nothing was wrong and even insisted 'things would work
out and there was no need for panic' -- but behind the scenes they kept certain
facts suppressed and hidden from public view. Yet, amid debts of 1.5
Billion Pounds and a Pension 'deficit' of 587 million pounds, they kept up the
pretence that nothing was wrong and it was 'business as usual'
Worryingly, Pension Trustees at Carillion were down at Whitehall needing help to
protect the pensions of 28,500 members. What the Government failed to
admit was that the pension fund had been left badly 'underfunded since 2008' and
the trustees had been kept in the dark about the state of Carillion's finances.
In 2011 and 2013 there was knowledge of this among civil servants in the Pension
Sector who had to file this information. Even The Commons Work and
Pensions Committee criticised the handling of this plunging disaster, and MP
Frank Field on reviewing the damning report said 'It is clear that Carillion has
been trying to wriggle out of its obligations to its pensioners for the last 10
years'
In completion of this short report, it must be mentioned that Carillion left
many 'Unfinished Public Contracts' with hundreds of millions of pounds of
taxpayers money invested in them. It was also said that the Carillion
Directors showed 'contempt over the pension black hole' all the way up to 2017
when the company crashed leaving an array of problems and collateral damage
throwing many people out of work. Even
the Accounting Firms such as DELOITTE, EY, Pwc and KPMG were accused of having a
'feast' on the carcass of Carillion, collecting more than 70 million pounds in
the process?

Update 2018 - The millionaire directors have
walked away into the sunset.....and hardly anything is said of Carillion or the
huge waste of Public money!

Update on the Carillion Scandal --
'TAXPAYER TO FOOT THE BILL' --Yes, news has arrived confirming that the taxpayer
is expected to pay the sum of 65 million pounds to former Carillion workers who
became redundant as a result of the firm going bust, and this comes after the
Tories said that the liquidation would not draw upon public funds? which
folks was another lie or spin by this government, and if you think that is all
there is, you're wrong, the taxpayer will now fund the restoration work to get
all the projects finished! (27/9/2018)

'THE NORTHERN POWERHOUSE AND PINNACLE FRAUD'
--- This was better known as 'The Development-Investment Scandal' to those who
invested money into a scheme that was pushed and applauded by former Labour
Chancellor GEORGE OSBORNE in 2015. This yet again, was a scheme that was
going to fall flat on its face, and leave a lot of people out of work and out of
money (and savings).
Endorsed by the Government and Liverpool Council (to generate the Northern
Cities and Towns) Northern Powerhouse and Pinnacle had projects all over the
Northern area, most notably, Liverpool......New Chinatown being a major
development. PHD who were Pinnacle, were the chosen builders, who later
collapsed in 2016 leaving projects partially built or not built at all. A
number of these were major developments with council involvement. Buyers
were led to believe the projects were backed by the council, mainly due to the
hype and presence of the Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson and George Osborne taking
a photo call and promoting the scheme. Liverpool Council were warned prior
to the collapse, but they ignored it. Behind the scenes, the council sold
off the land without any due diligence on who they were selling it to.
Peter McInnes of PHD1 denied he was in charge, and claimed he was just the
agent...it was later revealed that he had been reported to the Northern Crime
Agency. Despite everything, investors were cheated out of thousands and
millions alike here and abroad, and the money was unaccounted for and just
disappeared. Surveyor David Choules of Inca Management said that the
Developers fees were outrageous.
Another Pinnacle scheme was in Manchester, and that too failed, as did the
scheme called 'Angelgate' which had taken 30 million pounds from buyers just
before the firm went into liquidation?
No-one was ever brought to book for this, and the government did its 'Fading
Away' trick as it usually does, and Liverpool Council wriggled away too....
leaving the blame to fall elsewhere!

'THE WINDRUSH SCANDAL' -- A story that refuses to
go away, and one that can be easily accessed on the Interweb so this will be as
brief as I can make it. The Windrush Scandal has led to Government
denials, a Home Secretary resigning after being accused of a cover-up (Amber
Rudd) and a leaked Home Office report mentioning that her former Deputy Brandon
Lewis was accused of 'Waffle and denial' after Rudd had said she had an
'ambition' for removal of these people who arrived in their thousands from the
Caribbean in the 1950's and 60's to help Britain build itself up again.
THERESA MAY in usual Tory style, denied any involvement to do with the Policy to
send many of these people back. Yet she was The Home Secretary at the time
(2010) when the 'embarkation (Landing Cards) records, which were important to
the new arrivals immigrant status, were destroyed. She immediately blamed
Labour and said this happened in 2009, but Alan Johnson, who was the Home
Secretary in that year, openly said on the BBC's This Week show, that it was
Theresa May that gave the order to destroy the Landing Documents.
But what of the Windrush Immigrants? It is said that there might have been
around 57,000 people arrived in the ships. The scandal here, apart from
the activities of the MP's already mentioned, show that the UK had 'deported'
around 63 people and were in the process of removing others from the UK,
classifying them as 'unlawful' immigrants, and many of them had been in Britain
for well over fifty years. In usual Government style, with the urge for a
quick get out or cover-up, the blame game started with such things as 'civil
servant errors' and 'bureaucratic blunders'........but the truth never got a
look in!

'THE ASTON HALL HORROR STORY' --
Aston Hall Hospital, Derbyshire, a Residential Centre for people with learning
difficulties, a place that was off the radar for decades, this is where
'Victims' were sent from The Courts, Children's' Homes and broken families.
This is yet another 'Historic Abuse Case' from the past with over 100 former
'patients and Inmates' coming forward to tell the horrific abuse they suffered
while they were in the Hospital. It opened in 1925, and quickly became a
centre for children with mental health issues. The local council made good
use of Aston Hall and saw it has a convenient home to place children they had
with nowhere to go. It was not until 1959 that 'strange things' began to
surface -- especially the drowning of 7 patients whilst attempting to escape
from Aston Hall. One inmate, Barry Wright who died in 1959, was buried in
an 'unmarked grave?' and his family didn't know of this for two weeks. His
brother said 'He went in there and we never saw him again' Aston Hall said
that he had drowned? But this wasn't the first drowning at
Aston Hall, the first logged account in 1937, said that 16 year old Gerald
Rogers drowned whilst trying to escape! yet other accounts revealed that
the boy was a strong swimmer?
Doctor Kenneth Milner ran Aston Hall, he was the psychiatrist, and he ran it
until 1975 when he died. It was also strange that there were no medical
doctors at Aston Hall, no facilities to resuscitate? Dr Milner apparently
previously worked at Broadmoor -- and was known for his methods, and was
carrying out 'narco analysis which involved drug induced sessions with patients'
Despite all of this, Derbyshire Council did nothing and there were no reports of
an enquiry. It is only now that the Police are investigating 'sexual abuse
of children etc' and they say they have identified 65 people in this category.

The Police on taking up this case said that Dr
Milner would and should have been arrested at the time......will we ever hear
the full story?

'THE GOSPORT HOSPITAL SCANDAL' -- What we
have here is another hospital, a little more high profile, and one of the many
where 'Dirty Deeds' are coming to light. This is Gosport in Hampshire, a
place supposedly under the watchful eye of Hampshire County Council and part of
the NHS. Reports tell us that concerns about Gosport Hospital had been
raised by nursing staff over a period of 30 years! and that their fears were
'silenced' by management - the latter being the problem. One of the key
points raised in the Inquiry was the use of drugs on patients by one Doctor Jane
Barton who prescribed powerful opiates to many patients in her care. A
Report reveals that around 450 people 'had their lives shortened' from 1989 to
2000. Barton was accused of 'recklessly' prescribing these drugs in such a
dose that was always likely to have an adverse effect on the elderly patients.
The report also tells us that a 'whistleblower' did come forward 10 years
earlier and there was a Police Investigation of sorts into the hospital and
death of Gladys Richards in 1998, which was followed by a complaint by three
families in 2001. The Health Commission criticised the hospital for its
'excessive' use of drugs in 2003. Hampshire Constabulary passed on their
findings to the CPS in 2005, but in 2006 no-one is prosecuted and it all ends!
However, in 2009 an Inquest finds that the 'overuse of drugs' (supposedly
curtailed by then), contributed to the death of five elderly patients at
Gosport. Just one year later the GMC find Doctor Jane Barton guilty of
serious professional misconduct! Luckily, the families soldier on without
the support of the public at large or the authorities, and finally force another
investigation! And Hampshire Police admit that the first investigation
'was not fit for purpose' taking care not to elaborate or accuse themselves.
As a result it was decided that the new inquiry will be conducted by another
outside force. The NHS was told it had to be more open to acknowledging
problems and admit mistakes!...........which we've yet to see?

'THE UK-USA TORTURE COLLUSION REVEALED' ---
It's become a regular joke, a stupid denial, when we hear about the British
Government deny it had any role in the 'Torture Game' and Rendition with the
USA. It was revealed after much to-ing and fro-ing that the UK knew the
USA mistreated prisoners in the wake of 9/11. Reports emerged that British
Intelligence Officers witnessed prisoners being tortured, and played an active
role -- and more alarmingly, co-operated with Regimes that had brutal Police
Interrogations despite certain conventions that the Government had signed up to,
which 'guaranteed' that these practices were 'unlawful' But
the Law, International Law, has no place when governments wish to behave
appallingly, and 'Secretive' becomes the tag in the files that 'don't exist'
It has been revealed that the British Authorities turned 'a blind eye' to
routine mistreatment of detainees held by the USA. MI5 and MI6 both
financially subsidised the rendition of suspects in three different cases, and
provided information enabling arrests and transportation, as well as proposing
the rendition of 22 other people. One such example was the British owned
island in the Indian Ocean, DIEGO GARCIA, whose population was rounded up and
quickly deported elsewhere so that the Americans could have a 'secret base'.
During a Commission Enquiry into what went on, the report said ' There were
woefully inadequate records kept, which has restricted this inquiry'
Out of 27 conclusions made by the inquiry, the Commissioner and Chairman said,
'We have several serious concerns, and in our view, the UK tolerated actions,
and took others that we regard as inexcusable, and that the Agencies
involved deliberately overlooked reports of abuse and mistreatment and rendition
by the USA as a matter of agreed Institutional Policy!

'THE BURMA GENOCIDE AND UK SHAME' --- As Reports
go, the most interesting ones are the Cover-Ups and this one has been
deliberately shoved into the sidelines by the British Government. A report
by The International Development Committee covered 'the Massacre of Rohingya
Muslims' by the Myanmar Military (formerly Burma), a horrifying report of mass
killings having the hallmarks of genocide?
Nowhere did it mention the shameful failure on the part of the British
Government to prevent the war crimes and mass murder. It was a glaring
'omission' and one the UK should feel ashamed about. The
Minister responsible for Burma (which we have strong ties with), Mark Field,
incredibly blamed the Rohingya for their own plight. In his condemnation
he rarely touched on the evil by the Burmese Military and the atrocities
committed in plain sight. This should have alarmed if not disgusted the
British Ambassador Andrew Patrick whose brief covers Myanmar. Apparently,
despite these atrocities and glaring breaches of humanity, or indeed Law in some
cases, there have been no UN sanctions applied, and the then British Ambassador
to the United Nations Matthew Rycroft, now Permanent Secretary to the Department
for International Development is in charge of providing aid to clean up the mess
which could easily be seen partly as a result of his negligence. It
is important to recognise that the relatives of the Rohingya fought alongside
the British Troops against the Japanese Terror at the end of World War 2, and
the attitude of the British Government today will go down as a dark period in
the UK's National History -- unless it is 'airbrushed out' to make things look
acceptable to the younger generation, and not harm their 'tender' feelings.

'THE NHS BLOOD CONTAMINATION SCANDAL' ----
'Complicity of Silence' was the agreed term that describes the conduct of the
NHS amid a serious inquiry into THE BRITISH BLOOD SCANDAL, and its origins can
be traced to the 1970's and 80's. It appears that the British Government
failed to take matter of 'tainted blood' -- otherwise known as contaminated
blood as a priority needing urgent attention. It began with a patient,
Nick Hirsch who died having contracted hepatitis C as a result of his
haemophilia treatment. The report openly said that many medical
professionals did not go along with the suspicions of others pointing at the
tainted blood possibility whilst at the same time actually 'Preventing others to
ask questions or raise doubts' The Blood Scandal was in fact
more serious than the government would admit to and efforts to suppress this
became difficult in the face that the inquiry was now considering the treatment
of thousands of people who were given blood products infected with hepatitis
viruses and HIV, and they are now convinced it may go beyond 25,000 cases!
Mrs Hirsch said she hoped the inquiry would not typically skirt the surface but
'look into the Department of Health's dark corners' She also told the
inquiry about her son's care and the impact it had on the family. She said
'The misery and appalling lack of care from the medical professionals can never
be overstated, it's our inquiry and our chance to ask the questions we were not
allowed to before'
Strangely enough, the NHS have now finally apologised to the 30,000 victims of
this 'Blood Contamination Scandal' of the 70's and 80's, but 'sorry' is a well
worn word used by government departments, it has been used many times in the
past, and regrettably it will be used again when we find out about another
historic blunder or modern scandal waiting to be exposed?

'WAR CRIMES AIDED AND ABETTED BY BRITISH WEAPONS'
--- Of course, the British Government will reply by saying 'If we don't supply
them, then somebody else will' and besides, we employ a lot of people in the
arms industry, their livelihoods depend upon it -- which roughly translates into
'Economic Prosperity comes before Human Atrocities' --- something the UK
government shies away from, and Ministers hurry along speedily to deflect
reporters asking questions about. The British Public are also divided on
this question too, as it certainly touches on their ethics and principles, often
bearing on their pay-packets, and they too push aside responsibility by saying
'We don't have any say in where these products go, or how they're used, that's
up to others.' Which is highly convenient eh? and cowardly too!
The Report by the UN Experts coming out of the Yemen says the UK backed
Coalition fighting Shia rebels is probably guilty of war crimes too! and of
course we have Saudi Arabia in here ignoring the documented trail of abduction,
torture and mass murder perpetrated with the help of British weapons. We
have done this elsewhere so let us not look at this as an isolated situation.
British weapons are in the hands of not only Rogue States but Dictators shooting
their way to the domination of mere citizens in order to rob them of their
country's wealth and wield absolute power. The Report from the Yemen says
that the conflict armies have acted with utter disregard for civilian lives, and
more than 10,000 people have been killed and many more 'collateral' victims are
on the brink of famine. Civilians are trapped in the middle as usual, they
have to hide and dodge the bullets and weaponry made by other Nations that are
profiteering out of the misery created by Politicians!

NOTE: As we often point out, especially in
relation to the above articles, it is always assumed that certain individuals
carried out the 'crime' or misconduct, and that's because a 'scapegoat' is
always needed in order to subdue further enquiries and put the matter to bed
so-to-speak. But commonsense should tell you that it would take more than
the few individuals to cover-up or take part in the activity, and that's where
the old chestnut comes in - Evidence! and in a lot of these cases there is
'insufficient evidence' which entitles some of the cohorts and otherwise
participants to walk away and disappear out of view. It's not that they
weren't involved or actually assisting, it's because you can't prove it.
Evidence as we know can be shredded and sometimes is, there's the old joke of
'read it and eat it' which may appear wild, but this kind of thing often has a
history to support it. Today it is computers, but these help both the
seeker and the hider, so institutions are more crafty in their ways to make
things disappear, which of course then involves others who can slip away into
the darkness and escape prosecution!

In the UK we have THE OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT
primarily designed to protect the State and Security of the State from outside
menaces, but today this is used for 'Internal Matters' and has become corrupted
by the State to prevent more sordid practices becoming known.

'THE UK HAS MANY SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET' and
they're not too keen to have them told, so here we go with an extra item which
will nicely go with what Yasmin Alibhai-Brown raised just recently on the issue
of Britain painting its history with a 'favourable brush' one that can make it
all seem different? --- Obviously researched by Yasmin, We
learn of how the British set up Concentration Camps in South Africa during the
second Boer War between 1899 and 1902, in which more than 107,000 men, women and
children were interned. Thousands died of malnutrition and infectious
diseases, whereas in Southern Africa land was simply taken from them and handed
to the Europeans. Even in East Africa, 1000's of anti-colonial, indigenous
Kenyan Activists were rounded up, interned, and savagely raped, tortured and
killed by the so named civilised representatives of Her Majesty's Government.
As she points out some strongly object to anyone pointing out the rotten things
the British did because it is considered 'unpatriotic'.....Yet down in Australia
a similar massacre took place against the Aborigines using British troops to
wipe out as many as they could. (See Related Topics AUSTRALIA), after it was
over there was a cover up by the British and the Government hid reports and
files, burying some at sea....such was the evil they were prepared to inflict
and tolerate. John Pilger wrote about this in his book 'A Secret Country'
even though he was an Australian, and they wanted this stopped too.

THE TORY GOVERNMENT are not too happy to talk
about arms deals, yet a recent report shows us that they sold £4.6 billion of
arms to some countries which still have the Death Penalty. Shocking?
not really, the Tories have been doing 'Quiet' deals in the shadows of Whitehall
for many years. Their defence which plays like a worn record is either
'economic' or 'if we don't somebody else will' or they quote jobs as being a
great incentive to keep the arms industry pumping out 'Weapons of mass
destruction'....a phrase they rather liked at one time, especially by the Labour
MP Tony Blair, a conservative in Labour costume. Statistic-wise, the
government backed Industry shows they sell arms to more than two-thirds of 58
countries who currently execute people, despite the hypocrisy at the Heart of UK
Foreign Policy, and their biggest consumer or client for UK arms is Saudi Arabia
which had £2.8 billion of export licences granted in 2015.

'The Assessment Scandal of the DWP'

There are many of you out there who prefer not
to believe in the evils of The Tories and Labour Party, and those who like to
spin the tale of it all being necessary for the country's economics, which
allows you to treat poor people, the disabled mentally and physically in an
appalling manner so long as you don't see it......but what has happened and is
happening is real and you are the ones that look away conveniently! and when you
do this you allow evil to thrive.

Here are a handful we've picked out of 2,827
people suffering stress and more at the hands of the DWP

Carole Jarrett says:

October 21, 2017 at 12:37 AM

Subject: PIP Assessment

My
son receives ESA for social anxiety but getting this was a battle. He had been
suicidal with depression but with support had improved and felt well enough to
go the assessment (the first few times he had not been able to leave the house
to attend). He is suffering from depression with self-neglect and living in
squalor and walked his dog late at night to avoid people. During the assessment
the assessor wrote that he could perform personal hygiene (he never washes and
rarely changes his clothes) and chats to the Tesco delivery man (he would say
thank-you) and so was fit to work. The cancelling of his benefit sent him into
another period of depression from which he has not really emerged. We appealed
but he was unable to attend any tribunals as his anxiety was worse. We won by
sending photos of his house (filthy) and underpants (burnable) with a covering
letter.
My second son (lives with his wife) also suffers from social anxiety and gets no
benefits because is unable to attend assessments or communicate with anyone. The
system is not set up for mental health sufferers.

Richard says:

October 20, 2017 at 11:48 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

Regarding the question "Did you feel that the right decision on your entitlement
to ESA/PIP was reached as a result of your initial assessment?" the answer is no
because my PIP was overturned at appeal to HMCTS on the papers, so I was awarded
enhanced mobility and standard daily living with a review date in 2021 instead
of standard mobility until 2018.

The initial assessment was not fair or proper because it ignored my doctor's
explicit written evidence which I had submitted prior to the first assessment.
This evidence was valid, as the tribunal explicitly stated that my doctor's
evidence was instrumental in their decision.

The assessor's report was not consistent and ignored my own clear and
unequivocal written and verbal statements, which I can prove as I recorded the
interview, with permission and provided partial transcripts to the tribunal. My
assessor's verbal and written statements in the interview and in the report
indicated that she had not read my written answers and evidence completely.

My conclusion is that the HP did not have enough time to read or analyse my
written submission and my thorough but not excessive or extraneous written
submission became an obstacle to fair assessment, which is perverse and should
not be the case.

Joe says:

October 21, 2017 at 04:45 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I'm on a minimum state pension and am now heavily in debt due to supporting my
daughter and ex-wife who have been both "given the run-around" by Capita in
their assessments and appeals. My ex-wife has been lied to by an "operative" who
said she wasn't at her property at the time of the appointment when I was there
with her. We ALL suffer from depression and I'm struggling under the level of
debt that I've had to take on to help them survive this cruel and vicious
pruning of the cost of supporting those who need it most. I know of others who
are so damaged they are incapable of surviving this disgusting process and are
similarly being supported by their families!

Linda Horton says:

October 20, 2017 at 03:53 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I
have greatly struggled with Narcolepsy Syndrome for many years but have managed
to remain in some employment until recently. I was in receipt of DLA mobility
allowance (lowest rate) and encouraged to apply for PIP. I cannot prepare a meal
or use and oven or hob and have many difficulties day and night. I was
interviewed by a very impersonable, bordering on ignorant young man, giving me
the opinion that he wasn't interested in anything I said or my condition.
I was still surprised however when I received my assessment
and had ZERO points.
I strongly believe that my downfall has been that I have always tried to 'get on
with it', not been to A&E or my GP every time I have been injured or suffered as
a result of my condition and have tried to not burden others. I had not asked to
see an alternate Neurologist after the one I saw many years ago advised me that
he was leaving the NHS and there was no need for me to attend the hospital again
as no one else knew anything about my condition. I am now seeing a Neurologist
after requesting to via my GP.
As a result of the assessment my Disability Living Allowance was stopped. As I
have worked for many years I receive a few pounds in addition to basic pension
which means that I am just over the threshold for pension credit.
Through applying for PIP I feel that I have been labelled a liar. I am
struggling to manage financially and after having my condition for over 25 years
now cannot apply for any concessions such as the disabled persons railcard. My
health is obviously worsening with age and I have been diagnosed with further
conditions but on paper have changed for having a disability to being cured ---I
assume.

Carl Mayne says:

October 20, 2017 at 12:00 PM

Subject: PIP and ESA Assessment

They are seriously a joke. The lies and exaggeration used by assessors just
shows their inability to do the job they're paid to do. Mandatory
reconsideration again, is a joke. Never have I heard anyone say "They looked at
it again and changed their decision". Assessments cause more stress, anxiety and
misery than anything I have experienced in my life. How can it be improved? ...
Put people before profits, Hire some "Trained" staff, not random "Sports
physician" paid to make a decision based on someone’s long term depression or
progressing lung cancer. As for claimant-Friendly, Yet again (And I've used this
term too many times so far) - A Joke, It's as if all of these people are so sick
of their jobs and having to deal with the sick and disabled that they don't care
one iota ... They do not offer advice UNLESS you ask, They do not offer
alternatives - UNLESS you ask, Things are purposely hidden and withheld to make
claiming more difficult, stressful, time consuming and anxiety fuelling than
they need to be!

Amaka says:

November 08, 2017 at 01:07 AM

Subject: ESA Assessment

I've always been in work until May 2016 when I lost my job and became anxious
which worsened my physical disability as I had polio as a child and have started
to suffer with the effects of PPS, my mobility and transfer is greatly reduced.

I was sent the ESA50 form in Nov 2016 and I completed the form and sent it by
recorded delivery. They processed the form and asked me to attend a jobcentre
that had 31 external steps, I declined and requested for an accessible
location. I had also noted on the form details for reasonable adjustments
including use of taxis. I was then told that if I needed a taxi, I would have to
ask my GP to fax the request. I felt as if my voice was unheard and that I
couldn't advocate for myself despite being sufficiently educated.

Eventually attended the Assessment with a friend who is my part time carer in
Feb 2017. They did not make any of the reasonable adjustments, I couldn't do
some of the tasks that was asked due to my disability. I use mobility aids
including footwear that can be described as 'restrictive' but needed otherwise I
would be crawling everywhere.

On March 11 I received a call from the Decision Maker who advised that my
assessment had failed and that my ESA would stop immediately. The DM further
advised that I should apply for JSA so that there's no delay with money. I
explained to her that I find it easier to receive a letter than being spoken to
as I was very unwell due to my anxiety. I scored 0 points!

I was shocked by the details in the assessment report and though my assessor had
been a doctor, there were many misleading notes and obvious fabrication
including describing my long-term condition as muscoskeletal rather than
neurological.

I received support from my local CAB to lodge the request for Mandatory
Reconsideration, which was subsequently rejected and I appealed.

During this time, the Jobcentre were initially horrible and my job coach was
inexperienced to work with a disabled person. The chairs at the Jobcentre were
too low, I asked if I could use one of their office chairs, I was told by a
manager that it's against Health and safety, I lodged a complaint and it was
upheld so that I would sign on at the front door. I never had any compassion,
I was threatened with sanctions and I explained that I couldn't walk quickly
and since they had no disabled parking spaces, I had to park in the side
streets, as their offices were on a busy high street.

The MR stage was ridiculous and the need to go to tribunal is not cost-effective
especially when the Assessors and DM don't consult with your health
professionals who are best placed to explain the effects of my disability.

The assessment was not claimant friendly, DWP staff have little or no
compassion. It's as if they believe that all claimants are scroungers or
dishonest.

I succeeded at the Tribunal and was put in the ESA support group but my case did
not need to be in court, the points should have been awarded after the
assessment or even on paper. What is the point of providing evidence about one's
health for it to be disregarded!

Cathy says:

November 07, 2017 at 09:24 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

During my assessment the assessor had no idea what anxiety and depression issues
I suffer, no understanding of the difference between a good and a bad day.
Contracts are given to agencies whose staff do not have adequate training
particularly about mental health. Claimants seem to be judged a lot on their
appearance and many appeal decisions due to lack of understanding and poor
insight on the part of the assessor. I was too frightened to appeal a decision
because I didn't know who would be dealing with it and whether it would go
against me in future. It's a very stressful process and the forms are hard to
fill in. There needs to be wider scope of what constitutes a disability, it's
far too narrow which is why so many people end up having to appeal decisions. I
had to go through the assessment experience twice, with 2 different people
because my first one was lost. This was very stressful. People with mental
health issues have more problems with assessments because it isn't visible and
you get judged on your appearance which isn't right. Assessors need to have
knowledge and experience of mental health conditions, they need to be properly
trained and care about people. I think ESA and PIP assessments shouldn't be 2
separate one's, it's horrible going through the experience twice.

elvin says:

October 20, 2017 at 11:41 AM

Subject: ESA Assessment

My
ESA has been stopped unfairly just last week. I cannot sleep, eat nor
concentrate on anything since my Council and Family Court stole my disabled son
who I cared for very for many years and no contact is allowed. I dream him
whenever I do manage to get some sleep. I live on anti-depressants for this
mental condition.
I have damaged tissues in my right arm for 1 year now and it is not getting
better. I am in constant pain and cannot do anything with this arm.
I have damaged cartilage in my right knee and cannot walk far nor climb stairs.
I suffer from arthritis in both hips. I suffer hearing loss and memory loss as a
result of being kicked on my head after an unproved attack in 2015.
I am 61 years old and my body is falling apart but, yet still the DWP is telling
me "You are fit for work". I want to know what type of work I can do if I do not
sleep, eat nor relax, cannot get around easily and I only have one hand to use?

Ang ryan says:

October 21, 2017 at 04:15 PM

Subject: ESA Assessment

Was an awful process -on the interview day I was told to come Back 90 minutes
later and as we running late, the interviewer wrote things I didn't say , got 0
points and the mandatory reconsideration application took ages and all the
stress made my health even worse. I was forced onto job seekers allowance and
the case worker said there were worst cases and she had seen some who obviously
can't work and they had no advice for me as I couldn't work, but they remained
very supportive .Mandatory reconsideration did not take into account evidence
properly and ignored it! I Appealed and the magistrate responded to
my specialist and who gave evidence and the assessment went from 0-36 points and
I went onto a support group! I Felt so angry and let down and
my health was awful during whole 34 month process.

Warne says:

October 21, 2017 at 12:06 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I
have waited a year for a second tribunal .Whilst I awaited the first one,
I was told by DWP to put a new claim in. Therefore at court, I was only awarded
up to new claim. The refusal letter for new claim came through as I arrived back
from court! I have waited over one year for tribunal which is now next month.
I am in debt, isolated in rural Cornwall and unable to drive. We live off food
bank and in poverty. I am a lone disabled parent of 4yr old and a victim of
domestic abuse who cannot afford necessary therapy because I lost my DLA. I have
mobility issues and in debt with childminder who now drives son to school.
I already suffer PTSD & anxiety/depression and this whole process is adding too
much pressure to my already fragile mind.

Laura says:

October 21, 2017 at 11:59 AM

Subject: ESA Assessment

Reading the other comments makes me want to cry - that so many of us are gong
through the same awful experiences. I hope a change comes out of this. I claimed
ESA for mental health reasons. The wrong decision was made, I scored 0 points
and had to go to Man Recon. It was a horrible, horrible experience. I went from
0 to 15+ points at the Man Recon. How can the assessor get it that wrong?! I saw
a copy of the report and what I told the assessor and what he wrote down was
entirely different. I sent a 12 page complaint and was told he was just doing
his job. He implied that because my clothes were clean, I told a joke, and I
wore make up, that I was fine. He even said "you don't seem very anxious", as if
mental illness should be visible to be believed. I cannot believe how many
assessments go to Man Recon, they should be making the right decisions the first
time around. Like has been said in another comment, they force you to drag up
every bad experience in order to 'convince' them that you're not 'making it up',
this is detrimental to my mental health. I agree with another comment that you
are penalised for trying to get on with your life and making the best of things.
They use it against you when you try to get better!!! Luckily there are a few
decent people who work for the DWP on the phones who are not like this, but the
assessor was judgemental and prejudiced, and the Man Recon resulted in a relapse
in my recovery. We are ILL, not liars, not scroungers and trust me we wouldn't
be claiming these benefits if we had a choice! Please, PLEASE contact me for
further information because I don't want anyone to have to go through the
experience that I did, and mine wasn't even that bad compared to some! People
deserve to be treated better, there is an awful lot of work to be done to make
this system fit for purpose. It was absolutely detrimental to my health. If you
want to make it more claimant-friendly then try LISTENING to your claimants,
rather than treating them like inferior people. Assessments should happen
quicker, mine took months and months of anxious waiting. Assessors should be
better trained and should not make judgments. They should listen to what the
claimant is telling them. I also had a massive issues with the payments where
the DWP had been paying me the wrong amount and I received back pa finally, the
lump sum was nice but I had been living with not enough money to pay the bills
for almost a year by the time the DWP corrected their mistake. It's not good
enough. I look forward to radical change, and fast.

PS: If you can read this without
thinking anything for these people, you're either Tories or the couldn't care
less!

'GAGGING ORDERS by Government cost the taxpayer
millions'

Some of you reading this might be quite happy
with this Tory Government and prefer not to hinder them as they continue to
deceive the Nation. They are currently spending millions to hide facts and
reports amid their ludicrous claims of being 'clear' and 'providing
information if asked for' As we have already shown, the Information
Minister turns down quite a substantial number of enquiries, as do the councils
on quite a huge amount of issues. In this recent report it says that 53
workers have left the House of Commons over 'Gagging Orders' during a period of
five years; 2013 to 2017 according to The Freedom of Information Act. And
it has paid out 2.4 million. Apparently and to us here, obvious, these
orders all contained 'confidentiality clauses' restraining the person who put
the matter forward from discussing anything that had gone on or agreed to..
The House of Commons said this was not a significant amount of money to be paid
and likened itself to other organisations in Industry?

Not entirely unexpected from Politicians who
want past events erased and history retold in a fabricated warped way.
They are asking to be included in the ludicrous 'right to be forgotten' law
issued in Italy if we're correct, and in some cases European Law. It is
common knowledge that TV and Music celebrities are also keen to be in the same
game for much the same reason, to stop journalists and case compilers from
finding anything that these people may have forgotten in their childhood,
teenage and earlier years. The report says there have been 100's of
Politicians and firms demanding that Search Engine Giants Google, remove links
that list certain activities entirely on those seeking to look quite 'angelic'
and honest in every way. Whilst it is a fact Google are not entirely clean
themselves, they have received 400 requests under the European Right to Forget'
Law since January 2016, and another 597 in 2017. Google say they have
received requests to remove some 267,283 links and delete them so that they
cannot be found or traced through the Internet on their search engine! In
the case of politicians this flies in the face of 'accountability' 'being clear'
and 'transparency' but as we can see they still look sleazy and untrustworthy,
otherwise why would they want items being deleted and past events 'airbrushed'
from history? The only reason one can logically see for these requests is
they don't want something iffy seen or used against them that might bring up
other questions. (17/3/2018)

'The peculiar case of MP Keith Vaz'

One wouldn't be surprised if Mr Vaz applies to
Google when he emerges out of his own troubles. However, let us
start with the Report that says 'He's too ill to be investigated'.....and then
go back to 2001 when Mr Vaz faced a misconduct inquiry, to which he promptly
went on sick leave after collapsing whilst doing a TV interview? The
inquiry centred around his links to certain people and donations to the Labour
Party- Hindu billionaires and a passport situation involving two brothers who
applied for them. He was also big friends with disgraced cop Scotland Yard
Chief Ali Dazael who went to jail for 'framing' an innocent man; using his power
and authority to get the man prosecuted and jailed. MP Vaz it is said is
too ill to be investigated over his present inquiry that to date has lasted two
years; it began in December 2016. He apparently quit his position on the
very important 'Commons Home Affairs Committee' strangely at a time when it was
reviewing new vice laws, when he was named as being a man involved with male
prostitutes and rent boys. The formal investigation was halted midway by
Kathryn Hudson, the Standards Commissioner when she cited her reasons for doing
so was medical and that Mr Vaz was too ill. Yet remarkably, Mr Vaz has
attended many official functions and went on a trip to Saudi Arabia.
Apparently, his office prefer not to answer any questions, and there's been no
move to continue with the investigation so far? (10/2'2018)

'Labour MP finds the past trapping him'

It came as quite a blow for Labour hopeful
MIKE SPARLING when he was caught out by a local paper that ran a piece he
thought would not come to light, especially as he was embroiled in an incident
concerning 'media legislation' and wanting tougher controls and sanctions to be
introduced. What's more, he'd used selected news items to support the
Press Curb argument. Unlucky for him, the story of him, with photos,
revealed that he had been dismissed as a 999 call handler with the Devon and
Cornwall Police. He had reported in being sick, an excuse he used in order
to go on the Campaign trail, the photos of which were on social media. These
showed him to be healthy and canvassing for votes so that he could become the
Labour MP in 2015. The Police at the time said that he did not pass his
probationary period because he was unable to meet the standards required.
The article ran in the Plymouth Herald, and although this didn't stop him
becoming the Labour MP for Stoke Ward of Plymouth, his attempts to gag the Press
backfired, says he will now not seek re-election. (Jan 18/2018)

PS: Interestingly, the report says it is
understood that he has accepted a job offer to work for the Information
Commissioner in Manchester, who is responsible for enforcing Data Protection
Law?

'Parents claim damages payout from
Northamptonshire County Council'

Under the Human Rights Act, Judge Francis said
that senior bosses at the Council were responsible for a catalogue of council
failures, and they had not fulfilled their duties towards a young boy and his
parents. Delays were commonplace and almost instigated since 2013.
He went onto say 'that staff failed to carry out full and adequate family
assessments or adequate care planning, and it was just over two years before the
council began legal proceedings
and 10 different social workers had been involved. 'There was an
extraordinary delay and dereliction of duty' and that the council had been ' in
egregious breach of its duties.' The Judge chose not to have the family
and child identified in this case. He urged the council lawyers to
negotiate settlements of the damages claims, but said he would rule if they
failed to reach an agreement. It was revealed that council staff had
placed the 4 yr old boy in care, and that he was in serious doubt about the
legality of that placement.

'Payout for mother after they take her son into
care'

Yet another case like the previous one -- A
mother who had to be admitted into hospital because of mental stress needed
someone to look after her young son. But she found out that the boy had
been placed in care by the social workers. She said that they had failed
to get her consent to this or get a court order, in fact they just did it
without consulting a judge. She had to track him down later when she was
discharged from hospital. Judge Judith Rowe ruled that the workers from
BRENT COUNCIL in London had removed the young boy unlawfully, and had the
council pay £3,000 in damages for the upset they had caused.

'The Ever-Growing business of Secret Justice and
Closed Court Hearings'

THE TORY GOVERNMENT in particular go for this
type of justice, a justice that isn't, and it is very reminiscent of countries
that are police states and republics, where justice is absolutely controlled by
the Government and laws are set to prohibit free speech and protect the
Government actions under a blanket of 'Security of State, which is widely used
in Singapore and the Philippines. This case here in the UK should have you
annoyed, but the public being as they are, will turn a blind eye to this.
This started with a sacking, and he was a Government employee. The man was
told that he was a 'National Security' risk, but was never arrested despite the
label being placed upon him. Even though he put up a 7 year fight against
the government to find out why he had been sacked, his lawyers could not get
past the fact the Home Office said the proof against him was so sensitive 'IT
MUST REMAIN A SECRET'. his lawyers made attempts for him and argued
against the the government's controversial use of secret evidence.
However, the man's hopes were dashed as The Court of Appeal upheld the decision
to deny him any details or explanation of the Government's case against him.
It used to be thought that one wasn't guilty until the evidence proved otherwise
in an open court. But this smashes the concept of British Justice and
shows that it is a sham and disgrace. Secret Courts are becoming regular,
and is also used in the Family Courts to disadvantage mothers and families, and
this is corruption. This Secrecy thing is used in 'Hearings' especially
when people are being subject to 'control orders', and complaints against the
Intelligence Agencies at the investigatory powers tribunal, and civil damages
cases where the government are being sued for complicity in dirty activities
including torture and rendition. As the defence lawyer said 'they are
wholly without scrutiny and challenge' and this sends out a message to public
authorities that they can rely on secret hearings to get out of trouble, and
prevent the public from knowing what they did.

NB: The use of the Law for its own ends has
been going on for well over a century by politicians and government, and anyone
surprised by this should seriously reconsider going back to the history books
and seeking out the information that hasn't been suppressed by the Legal
Profession and Government.

This article would nicely explain why the
bailiff business is doing well, because your taxes are funding these band of
cutthroats via the court system and councils. A report tells us that
bailiffs have been sent into 81,000 firms according to an investigation by the
group calling itself The Altus Group (Ratings Adviser). They were 'given'
the power to enter properties and seize goods in order to settle the debt (and
their own fees). The report says that bailiffs were sent to 222 premises a
day across England in 2017-18 because of business rate arrears. The figures for
this report were obtained by use of The Freedom of Information Act, and it
covered a staggering 1.6 million properties, and it cited the Birmingham Council
as the most prolific users of Bailiffs followed by Manchester City Council.
Businesses replied by saying this was due to the crippling tax hike of the Rates
Revaluation by the Tories in April 2017 forcing many out of business.
Strangely enough, we often find the Tories praising their efforts in creating
businesses and encouraging new business when they choose to lie yet again.
This item paints a very different picture and one that should be exposed.

NB In regard to bailiffs, here's a tip, find
out who is running it, do a check on the Internet, and go everywhere, and use
this again on the employees in case you find past hidden criminal records or
similar? and let us know what you find
corruptionseeker@hotmail.com

LEAST WE SHOULD FORGET! --- Debt Collecting
firm NEWLYN PLC of Batchworth Place, Church St, Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire,
the firm that 'distanced' from the suicide of teenager Jerome Rogers who was
visited by Bailiffs on more than one occasion. He tried to get help from
the company and this failed miserably. (His zero hour contract job often
paid him just 12 pounds a week) Newlyn acted like the government and saw
themselves as not being contributory at all, and neither did the bailiffs!

'Council have no trouble finding money to pay
rent on their new headquarters'

It's hard to figure out in such times of deep
cuts to services on a countrywide scale that a council can charge the rent of 58
million pounds over a period of 40 years, but they can because they merely
charge it to the taxpayer. COLWYN COUNTY have a new building where 700
civil servants will be employed, and it cost 38.5 million pounds to build, and
its yearly rent will be 1.5 million pounds a year footed by the taxpayer, and
its linked to the retail price index!

'Money, money, money, and it's all about the
government Levy'

A report of the little known kind tells us
that the Tories have a cache with a 'training levy fund' of 1 billion that is
not being used; they have been urged to try harder to see if it could be well
spent! It says there is 1.28 billion pounds paid into an apprenticeship
levy 'languishing' in accounts held by the Treasury. Despite this being
given by hundreds of companies, only 108 million as been withdrawn from the
account according to The Open University. The Government got this money by
imposing a levy on companies to encourage apprenticeships topped up by
government to finance training! And whilst we're talking about a
government making money lets go to ' COUNCILS MAKING A MINT OFF GREEN WASTE
LEVY' yes, another levy! a report says that local authorities are making
74 million pounds a year from garden waste collection, a service once covered by
council tax. The BBC who acquired the official data for their consumer
series 'RIP OFF BRITAIN' showed that 53 percent of UK councils now charge to
collect green waste at an average price per house of 42.50 pounds.
Presenter Gloria Hunniford said 'As more councils introduce fees (levy) more of
us will have to get used to paying to have our grass clippings taken away'
despite paying more council tax. So we will now move onto the next
profiteering racket in the next article
below.

In addition we have 'COUNCIL INCREASES IT'S
PARKING PROFITS' and this is NEWPORT CITY COUNCIL who the report says, have
ramped up their parking charges by 3000% in 2017. They turned in a profit
of 306,000 pounds in 2017/2018 from what used to be a mere 9,000 pounds!
an increase according to the RAC of 3,295%. It says the Local Authorities
in Wales made 14 million pounds profit. So as you can see, whenever they
need more cash, they're quite happy to fleece the motorist. (we have other
articles on this subject on this page and 'Related Topics)

'What's 500,000 Pounds to a confused council and
the wrong bins?'

To the Taxpayers a great deal, but NEWCASTLE
CITY COUNCIL its as one member of the council put it-- 'We're as confused as
everyone else' said councillor Marion Talbot. The report tells us that
Newcastle Council have been paying out 500,000 pounds of taxpayers money a year
to sort out the wrong bin rubbish. They said the wrong rules regarding
waste etc, has meant especially to recycle items that they have been going in
the wrong bins. Apparently there are now 39 sets of rules for households
to follow, and Nick Kemp, the city cabinet member for the enforcement of the
said rules said that they were looking at potentially identifying a smaller
number of items that are very clearly able to be recycled......but what of the
money? sadly nothing! that's been spent.

'Council actions condemned by Ombudsman'

CORNWALL COUNCIL were slammed by the Ombudsman
MICHAEL KING who said it was one of the worst cases of neglect he had seen in 14
years in the job. The case involved a homeless teenager who was given a
tent and told to live on a campsite. What made this worse was that the
civil servants in the department responsible knew the teenager was on 'the
vulnerable list' and officers were well aware of him being at risk of overdose,
addiction and possible death' let alone harm. And during his five weeks in
a tent he was sexually assaulted. Even though they tried to explain this
away by saying he could be extremely difficult to deal with, the Ombudsman told
the council that they had a duty under the 'Children's' Act to support this
vulnerable boy but had failed to do so, and at times they had played the blame
game by actually blaming the boy for his own situation. The Ombudsman
ordered the council to pay the teenager compensation of 2,500 pounds.
(31/10/2018)

'Tackling Injustice! an insincere Tory Banner at
their conference'

It was indeed surprising to see a banner
saying 'Tackling Injustice' at the Tory Conference in Birmingham, and almost
laughable considering many of the damaging policies they have already imposed
and are about to in the next two years. A Recent Report has revealed that
there will be new cuts to council budgets from the Tory High Command in London
of some 1.3 billion pounds in 2019 and 2020, and that these will be 'crippling'
to services throughout Britain. And these will be an injustice to the
poor, vulnerable and pensioners that are seeing money being virtually snatched
from them 'legally'.....the report says that grants will be slashed by 36% and
that up to 168 councils throughout England and Wales will receive no funds at
all from central government. The LGA are saying that this will leave many
councils unable to protect children and provide dignified care for the elderly
and disabled, and merely just stop providing the so-called 'statutory' services
altogether in the hope someone somewhere will do something... but it won't be
the Conservative Government. Data coming out from leaks is showing
that 'key' services will be dramatically cut as Theresa May and Philip Hammond
pursue the austerity plans they have already committed themselves to. Richard
Watts the Chairman of the LGA Resources Board warns that the 'unprecedented
funding squeeze coming out of Whitehall will be doing great harm to the need for
adult and children's social care and homelessness services. Less money is
being spent on other services already such as libraries, roads, early
intervention and welfare support. By 2020 councils will be unable to
provide 'statutory responsibilities' and there will be no legal way to force the
government to honour them. (October 2018)

NOTE: As we have already pointed out, the government
can walk away from all of these requirements because of THE INTERPRETATION ACT
1978' which means that they can consider all of the 'Statutory' obligations as
'Declaratory' (like an intention to but not legally obliged to) which then needs
interpretation, and these are not very clear, and the government can set the bar
on many of these and throw them back to court....which takes years!

Update: THERESA MAY Says 'Austerity is Over'
in Conference speech and hides the fact she's ok'd cuts of 1.3 billion pounds
during 2019-2020

Update: Sadly due to the likes of Robert
Peston who termed May as saying 'We are bringing austerity to an end' which is
quite different from what she declared, is suffering from confusion as his
hearing is obviously in decline.... the following morning the Newspapers
concentrated on her 'dance' and entrance onto the platform which in reality was
a big con, it was devised to deflect the gullible public from the truth, and
they fell for it hook, line and sinker.....if she fails with the Brexit thing
she will disappear like Cameron, and the austerity will bite hard. It will
not only have the 1.3 billion cuts over 2019 and 2020, there will be more than
the UK Public ever dreamt of, and May will not be accountable!

' EXPOSING THE AUSTERITY OVER LIE' -- Luckily,
there have been others that doubted the sincerity of Theresa May's speech, and
we can now look at a report that categorically says that austerity cannot be
delivered by the Conservative Party until at least 2027! so says The
Resolution Foundation Director Torsten Bell who looked at all of the factors
that could possibly support her claim. But, even as he went through the
easy system he found it was glaringly obvious that the aim to reduce the deficit
and the Treasury's aim to balancing the budget was still a very long way off,
and it wasn't on track to reach that goal until 2027-28 with further tax rises
and spending cuts required to arrive at a successful conclusion. He
further explained 'for most people ending austerity is about the programme of
reductions in public spending that are still ongoing. In terms of
real-terms spending per person, overall government expenditure (TME) is set to
rise slightly, having fallen by 5% since 2010. That small rise is driven by
increases in spending on debt interest and other non-public service areas (AME)
but even if we focus on departmental spending (DEL) the trajectory looks flat
over the coming year. Despite it being flat, it is being driven by a
planned capital splurge. Public Spending into the 2020's and social
security for an ageing population will need to rise by 36 billion pounds by 2030
to simply maintain our existing welfare State, and preventing falls in
departmental spending will not feel like an end to austerity...so, no, austerity
has not been ended, doing so involves difficult trade-offs, and right now these
are nowhere in sight.' (5/10/2018)

'By 2020 DWP will reduce disabled benefit by 50
Pounds'

These cuts will not rule austerity out or stop
it from continuing, and we know it affects the poorest the most. May's
government has already set out its stall and for 900,000 disabled people there
will be a weekly fall in their incomes by 50 pounds because of benefit reforms
which will not relent despite the May lie. These actions are not decided
by austerity, and they were never going to be, the Tories said it was to reduce
debt and make us live within our means, but failed to tell us that the National
Debt had actually risen, when in fact this was the reason for austerity.
Through 2019 and 2020 Research Team POLICY IN PRACTICE discovered that of 7.2
working-age -- low income households, more than two fifths of those containing a
working age disabled person would lose out. This will come on top of an
average weekly loss of more than 20 pounds a week since 2016. The article
says this study and research by Policy in Practice was carried out by DEVEN
GHELANI who helped create The Universal Credit when he was at IAIN
DUNCAN-SMITH'S Centre for Social Justice? and we know enough about this man
already and what he did, which never amounted to social justice at all -- this
is the 'misery man' who hit the poorest in society.
However, there's more, this report was prepared on behalf of The Local
Government Association, who warn that the losses to income affecting disabled
people, as well as the impact on families with children, will further increase
the pressure on 'already stretched' Local Authority Support Services?
(14/9/2017)

ESTHER McVEY The DWP Minister 'COMPROMISES THE
PM --- Unluckily for Theresa May, her DWP Minister forgot the 'Austerity Claim'
and admitted to reporters that 'some' claimants will be worse off under the new
Universal Credits system. She said they would lose money as a result
of the introduction of universal credit, and quite possibly some three million
people will be around 1800 pounds a year worse off. 'We have to make some
tough decisions and some claimants will lose around 200 pounds a month on their
benefits' (12/10/2018)

PS Austerity isn't over for these people, it
continues to get worse.....this is the cost of 'The Tory Lie'

'CORBYN CHALLENGES THE AUSTERITY PLEDGE' --
Strangely, it has now become a 'pledge' and one wonders if these people need
their hearing adjusted. It's already a fact that it went above the heads
of the British Public, and nothing was spotted when Theresa May said it was over
and at an end, but somehow this has been watered down to 'a pledge' by the
Labour Party leader who was sat opposite her and obviously didn't watch the Tory
Conference when she threw in that declaration. Jeremy Corbyn now will call
it 'A CON' if she fails to get the Autumn Budget right.....but sadly he misses
the points of the McVey gaff, and reports we have listed above that show
Austerity is far from over!

'THE EROSION CONTINUES' -- Despite no-one
playing the Video tape back of the conference, they have now airbrushed out that
bit and it now becomes -- ''TAX RISE OF 19 BILLION POUNDS NEEDED TO FUND MAY'S
PROMISE TO END AUSTERITY' as one can see, it is now turning into one
of those 'promises' and as we've said, the government are not legally bound by
any promise' so that should give you an idea of how this is going to turn out.
The Report by The Fiscal Studies Group says this austerity is unlikely to end
until at least 2022/2023 which they say could go badly wrong. It even
tells the Chancellor Phillip Hammond (May's right hand man) that unless Economic
Growth is much better than expected , Mr Hammond will face the choice between -
'substantial tax rises' or 'ditching his target of balancing the books by the
mid 2020's (warned by the IFS in its annual Green Budget), and Hammond has
already said he's committed to eliminate the deficit ASAP!
(Oct 2018)

'Appeal takes 9 months and causes severe stress
for claimant'

Sadly, this is another 'Assessment Case' --
there are thousands more! This is
Graham's own story, which he wished others to share with on a recently closed
forum containing 2,827 responses from people who were required to attend an
assessment:
DWP Claimant Graham who had a number of health problems that got in the way of a
normal life (and he also had to contend with the attitude of the DWP) was thrown
into what one could describe as 'Your worst Nightmare' The
only luck on his side, was that he was helped by a Benefits Advisor at the CAB
who helped him through several hurdles they put in Graham's way. He was
summoned to a PIP Assessment, an experience he found dreadful. The so
called Health Professional asked him about his problems, but virtually ignored
the problems he told her. In order to be frank as possible, he told her he
didn't cook because of the lack of focus, and it wasn't something he could do
safely, and that he 'self-neglected', but the report said he had no physical
problems! and he was awarded zero points?
His GP wrote a strong letter of support asking why her opinion had not been
asked for before a decision had been made. She quoted them a standard
practice requirement in mental health cases in which the DWP are supposed to ask
the claimant's GP for an opinion, yet they ignored this without an explanation.
However, the Appeal was Successful and he was awarded Standard Care....and
Benefit Payments.
Graham adds: 'The nearest I came to a successful suicide was all to do
with the pressures of the benefits system, and only since the mean Conservatives
got into power and started their attacks on the disabled in the Press and on
TV....In my view they are the only reason why so many of us in our condition
wish to die!

NB: Quite an indictment on The Tories, one
they should be thoroughly ashamed of, but they're not, and they never will be,
just look at the likes of Grayling, May, McVey, Duncan-Smith and others who are
in the main, rich jobsworths, privileged and paid very well thank you!

'Councils impose biggest council tax rise in 14
years'

Not the best news for taxpayers, but being a
Tory government you can't expect better. The Charted Institute of Public
Finance and Accountancy issued a report saying households in England face the
largest rise in council tax for 14 years, adding an extra 81 pounds to the
annual bill of every house. Average Band D. bills are set to rise by 5.1
percent from 1,591 pounds in 2017-18 to 1,672 in 2018-2019. I Wales it is
a 72 pound rise from 1,420 pounds to 1,492 pounds. Much to the annoyance
of ratepayers the words coming from the authorities yet again despite reality,
say they are trying to keep bills down and that local government has made by far
the biggest efficiencies in the public sector since 2010, but now feels it has
to put up the bills. It's interesting to see that they make no mention of
the cuts in services and the fees they are charging for things that used to be
in that bill they are now raising.

Little do they talk of the rise of fuel bills
when more than 863 million pounds of taxpayers money is being handed over to the
big six energy companies as councils fail to switch to smaller providers.
9 out of 10 local authorities in the UK are supplied by one of the major energy
or oil firms according to a Freedom of Information request. It seems to be
the situation of councillors urge residents to switch to cheaper environment
friendly alternatives while ignoring following their own advice.

It was also discovered that Ministers spent 5
million pounds of taxpayers cash preparing a policy that just affected 90
people? And after just a year the whole thing was scrapped.

Another 'boob' in policies costing a great
deal of money caused Pensions Secretary Esther McVey to announce a U-Turn on the
policy to remove automatic entitlement to housing benefit for 18-21 year olds ,
which was introduced in April 2017. Around 10,000 young people were
expected to be affected by the change initially, which was announced by the
deadly two, PM David Cameron and George Osborne in 2014 to save 95 million
pounds.

'Nick Clegg regrets getting into bed with The
Conservatives'

LIBDEM Leader Nick Clegg said he went into the
coalition with the Tories to make sure they served the people well, but he
failed to see that Cameron was leading him by the nose and had no interest in
Liberal values whatsoever. Nick Clegg the one time Deputy Prime Minister
is now saying that it was 'Nasty politics to blame for the crisis in the Home
Office' He went onto blame the Tories for 'silly policies and nasty
politics' pursued by the Conservatives due to their obsession with immigration
that fuelled the crisis in the Home Office. Clegg got burnt and
doomed his party to staying on the outside for years to come, and he will be
known for that in the History books provided the Conservatives don't mess around
with it and airbrush their sordid acts and plans so no-one will realise just
what they did for this country!

'Tory Minister Amber Rudd fails to convince
court'

Another Tory defeat in The Court of Appeal --
Home Office Secretary Amber Rudd loses ruling as she is forced to back off over
refugee child policy. The government's handling of unaccompanied child
refugees hit the buffers as Senior Judges ruled that a number of child asylum
seekers assessed for transfer to the UK under an amendment moved by Lord Alf
Dubs, were given 'Patently inadequate' reasons for being refused entry into the
UK.

'Leaked Memos and Tory Denials'

The 'Leaked Memo' situation has been around
for some while, and sadly the government actually use it for their own
advantage, choosing when, if, and where to acknowledge its existence or denying
the proof of such a document. It does exist, but the Tories and other
government bodies have deliberately concocted them too, making things muddier.
In this 'data for use' world we now live in and aspire to, it is relatively easy
to surf the Internet and occasionally through an accidental process come across
a 'leaked memo' being offered by an angry disgruntled former civil servant
(which we have encountered) who wants 'revenge'....the councils quickly respond
through their Lawyers that they deny such, and then follow this up with that the
document is confidential and issue their threats. An open report says that
a Document accessed by the BBC stated that the government envisaged a
parliamentary vote on the 27th of November and that Parliament played down the
document's significance suggesting that it didn't reflect government
thinking?......mild stuff, yes, but other documents not only reflect just
thinking....and they are out there!

(We got one some time ago and the party
changed their mind after sending it....and that is the usual way it happens)

' COUNCIL'S COVER-UP OWN FIDDLES '

A report which highlighted fraud within
councils. It estimated that £600 million was lost each year through staff,
yes, civil servants, and councillors, again over allowances to a greater extent
(this is before the Expenses Scandal of Parliament). 140 authorities
investigated showed that 1 in 4 had housing benefit fraud being done by the
staff and councillors. Fewer than half of the councils investigated
employees nor were they set up to, which resulted in it being largely ignored
--- they had enough claimants to go after.

'Council Worker steals 'Grenfell Victims Cash' on
the good life'

CIVIL SERVANT JENNY McDONAGH appeared in court
charged with stealing up to 62 thousand pounds of cash held for the Victims of
The Grenfell Tower Fire Disaster. It was stated in court that the Council
Worker in London spent most of it on gambling, holidays and dining out in good
restaurants. Westminster Magistrates Court found her guilty on two
offences of fraud, one being money-laundering. She is to be sentenced at a
later date. Other matters discussed in relation to this case suggest that
the Medway Foundation Trust in Kent are now investigating her actions whilst she
was employed there and a missing amount of 35 thousand pounds? (31/8/2018)

'Councils are preparing for large tax rises to
plug funding gaps'

A 2017 Report has said that councils across
England and Wales are already planning to pass on huge tax bills to residents in
order to bolster their reduced funding from central government. 94 percent
of council leaders said they were being forced to put up bills for services even
though they will have to cutback on other services they've marked for closure.
They say households will face a 5 percent rise on the bills. The Local
Government Information Unit says it should be only 1.5 percent in actual terms,
but they would, that's the Tories for you. The report says that many
councils are in dire straits and over-stretched beyond belief due to reduced
funding after a decade of cuts from both the Labour and Conservative
governments, and at the moment they cannot see this being relaxed by the Tories
with their Brexit costs yet to explained to the British People. One
particular area hit badly is the Home Care for elderly pensioners, and this has
been put at risk because councils are failing to pay enough towards it. The UK
Homecare Association approached some 208 councils and said over 873,500 people
of 65 and over were experiencing less help and providers are handing back their
contracts because of inadequate council fees.

'Councils use 'legal loophole of Section 58' to
deny payouts for pavement falls'

You can forget about 'responsibility and
fairness' here, the Tory's and councils yet again use 'Section 58 of the
Highways Act 1980' to thwart claims in court involving people who have suffered
injury due to bad pavements and holes etc. We have already mentioned that
they are using this same Act for pothole damage claims as their nasty lawyers
scuttle around wringing their hands in delight as they go to court to interpret
the law in their favour and use as much gobbledygook legal speak to battle off
the claimant who has the cheek to say the council are at fault. It was
actually Lawyers and Government who passed this protection in law to counter
claims even though its meaning is pathetic and exaggerated, and designed to be
used unfairly. This 'Protectionalism' piece of interpretation that states
that councils are not liable 'if they had not PREVIOUSLY been alerted about the
defect, and if the pavement WAS SCHEDULED to be repaired at SOME TIME IN THE
FUTURE. You will note 'Previously' which is wide open to question just in
itself, 'Was scheduled' that could be added on by a civil servant in the council
or indeed a lawyer working for it (a bit of clever manipulation of records not
seen by or able to be requested by the public) and lastly by far the worst,
'Some time in the future' an ambiguous statement that could be as long as a
piece of string?....this is the Law folks, an interpretation rigged by lawyers
for their masters in government. (main story 25/8/2018)

'The scandal of the DG-069860 Highways Regulation
and Council Inaction'

A recent by-line in a newspaper article 'Pay
to use your own drive, council demands' raises more issues than they would like
to be aired or revealed about council services and their inability to abide by
laws they can simply walk away from whenever they chose, as with the one above
in the previous article. Anxious not to use any council money, the council
in the article- Southport Council, are expecting residents to fund having a drop
curb built or face fines for not complying with highways law, whilst they pay
little attention to the drop curb law which is contained in the Act. The
Highways Act Regulation section 243 DG-069860 states that someone who does not
live where the drop curb is in view are required to adhere to 'Do not stop or
park in front of an entrance to a property' But when the law is required
to be enforced by the owner of the drop curb; and these can cost up to 2000
pounds, the council merely say they haven't anyone available to handle the
complaint and refer you to the police, who in turn say they cannot do anything
unless it's endangering life, so what you end up with is two agencies fobbing
you off in the face of a legal requirement that has no value or effect and all
that money you paid for the privilege of having a drop curb is a total waste of
time and money. And from what we've found, many motorists, delivery
drivers and neighbours ignore the rule and park there (and so do their visitors
and relatives). Time and time again the councils get away with
interpreting the law as they see it and when necessary displaying their immunity
by quoting government legislation that grants them an excuse to ignore the
definition because they haven't the resources or manpower, but that doesn't
apply to the ordinary folk that keep these civil servants in work.
Stockport Council told Mrs Maloney, one of several residents who has lived at
the same house for more than ten years that she cannot cross the path onto her
own driveway because she hasn't a dropped kerb, which begs the question why
didn't the council put one in at the time, but they don't answer this and merely
point out that the damage to the pavement requires them to fine anyone breaking
the Regulations, but if you look at the previous article they leave dangerous
pavements around and find a legal loophole to avoid any claims. The
council and civil servants have one thing in common, and that is no scruples, a
well known government trait.

'Council does the wrong thing despite knowing
better!'

Despite a grieving Dad's heartbreak for his
son killed in a road crash, the Tameside Council continued to charge him the
bedroom tax on the boy's room which was empty, and they had no excuse because
they were aware of the tragic event. 15 year old Tom was killed as he rode
his motorcycle along a road and into a head on collision with a young guy using
a quad bike, he was arrested at the scene. Thomas's father Terry Fannon
was already going through a nightmare when the situation worsened and his
benefits were cut by the council because they now quantified it has now being
'spare' so that they could impose the taxation clause. Manchester Crown
Court were non too pleased to hear of this when they found out that the DWP
rules had been broken by the council, which state 'that a family should be given
a year after a death' before bedroom tax is imposed. Later, a Tameside
Council Spokesperson admitted 'they had made an error!'
(2/8/2016)

'The lowdown on the real DWP'

Since the 2013 amendments to Benefit Law, we
have seen many changes for the worse, despite propaganda by the government
taking a pop at the jobless with spurious headlines and falsehoods issued by a
'protected' House of Commons. They claim all jobless can have jobs, and
there's no reason why they should remain on benefits, but they don't ever say
what jobs, or whether these supposed jobs can lift a family out of debt.
Their new measures have done far worse, and we start with the DELAYS AND ERRORS
IN BENEFIT PAYOUTS that put claimants at risk. The Work and Pensions
Select Committee openly admitted that families and other recipients were being
forced to choose between paying the rent or going hungry because of payment
delays. Then we have the report that accused the DWP of rewarding failure
in Benefit Contracts to outside companies such as CAPITA and ATOS who were paid
a staggering £700 million for their 5 year contracts, which was to carry out
assessments for personal independence payments...and we all know what damage
they did there. And what about that situation where 'OFFICIALS MADE UP
HAPPY CLAIMANTS FOR DWP LEAFLET' yes a complete forgery and fabrication okayed
again by DWP Lawyers who often hide in the background. It was discovered
that these success stories they had published were in fact made up for the
leaflet to deceive. This was issued to trash out the other claims of
the 'Brutal Sanctions Treatment' and the DWP didn't want this to be 'centre
stage' so they concocted the phoney leaflet. The sanctions thing is more
serious, and it has been going on for a number of years, and it was criticised
for causing extreme hardship and being operated in an unfair and arbitrary way.
The Select Committee said there was real evidence that these sanctions were
geared towards punishing the unemployed, and we also found this was the case.
The Headline 'BENEFIT SANCTIONS FORCING PEOPLE TO SLEEP ROUGH' was accurate in
every way, even though the DWP denied it in their usual off-hand fashion. CRISIS
the homeless charity said that a survey they conducted with the homeless
revealed that out of a 1,000 asked, almost four in ten said they were
sanctioned. Some 77 percent had skipped meals , six in ten said they had
found it harder to look for work and around seventy-five percent of them were
beginning to suffer health and mental problems due to sanctioning by Jobcentres.
This is the true evil of the DWP and the Civil Servants who help run it.
We now move onto the 'BENEFIT FREEZE COSTS FAMILIES £300 A YEAR' and this is not
surprising at the current time when the government are playing games with JSA
and UNIVERSAL CREDITS, which don't work for all claimants, even the phone
applications turn down some people in a 'Universal Credit Area' and steer them
to JSA. The Resolution Think Tank Foundation said around 7 million
children will be affected and a further 800,000 people seeking work, with an
additional 2-4 million disabled will be hit by a freeze on their benefits...and
its all a move to save The Treasury £3.7billion by 2020, and that's the Tory
Government's objective, 'Rob from the poor and give to the rich' 'LIVING
STANDARDS STAND STILL FOR THOSE ON LOW PAY' yet another affect that the
government and DWP toss aside as 'unfortunate' saying these people will
eventually rise out of this, but they don't say how. The Joseph Rowntree
Foundation reported that low income families with just one main earner are
likely to see their living standards stagnate or fall significantly in the
coming years. 'DWP TOLD TO STOP BUNGLING INFORMATION ON PENSIONS' yet
another area the DWP started to 're-arrange' in their 2013 legislation changes,
which calls itself the Pensions Act 2014, replaced the basic and additional
pensions conditions. An investigation by the Commons Committee has
confirmed that confusion over what people will receive from the new state
pension, and when they will receive it, is rife. And of course there was
that BENEFITS HELPLINE COSTS CLAIMANTS 55 PENCE PER MINUTE, that was yet again a
Tory and DWP idea, which again passed on the cost to the poor exactly as Mrs May
intended. After an outcry by the public this has now gone, and its a pity
that she and her cronies are not gone as yet. And Finally, we have the
JUDGE SLAMS CASH DELAYS FOR THE DISABLED. The Judge said the delays were
'UNLAWFUL' and at the least unacceptable. So there you have it, the real
DWP and who is behind those acts of nastiness. Sadly they ignore most of the
criticism and carry on doing their dirty deeds come what may!

'DWP spokesman plays down the Food Banks Scandal'

Amid the rising need of the food bank in 2017,
a DWP 'mouthpiece' has had the effrontery to publically say in the face of 1.2
million people were at food banks queuing for food, 'The reasons for food bank
use are complex, so it's misleading to link it to one issue' As for using
the word 'Misleading' the government do this time and time again, just read the
DWP Pensions Robbery' for a start. Food banks didn't exist until the
Labour Government crashed the financial system and the Tories took advantage of
it, and squeezed the system dry. The Trussell Trust provided 1.182,954
people with 3-day food supplies to people in crisis, and 440,000 children
received emergency help. Mr David McAuley Head of the Trust said 'Changes
to Universal Credit Benefits have had unforeseen consequences'.....and that's
the DWP.

NB: instead of making crass statements, the
DWP Spokesman should look at the DWP Pensions Robbery and the Ombudsman's
summing up at the end of the inquiry --- 'The Government is once again refusing
to accept responsibility'

'The DWP Lie'

Yes, there are many lies told by the DWP, but
a recent one came to our attention that needs to be seen. The Department
of Work and Pensions had the audacity to say that 'it's research showed that 83
percent of people on benefits were satisfied with the Jobseekers allowance of
£73.30 a week' There are three such lies here as their research is
totally inaccurate and shouldn't be trusted by anybody reading this claim.
Firstly, the payment of £73.30 isn't paid to every jobseeker, because we have
proof that some get lower and our proof shows that one we have seen gets just
£70.30, and they cannot explain or won't explain why. Their policy on
payments have introduced several ways of reducing the benefit. So that is
lie 1. Other research groups do not agree with this wildly exaggerated
figure, and our research shows this to be not only ridiculous but a downright
lie. So that is Lie 2. and the Disability Benefits Consortium said
recently that in its survey, one done more thoroughly than the DWP, showed that
60 percent of people claiming benefit said it was not enough to live on...Lie 3.
by the DWP. This Department are inveterate liars at the best of times, and
the so-called DWP research is flawed by the fact they manipulate and manufacture
these figures to support the propaganda they want the working public to swallow.
(2018 January)

'The DWP Appeal Tribunal Scandal'

This report goes back to 2012 when a claimant
discovered that an appeal can be cancelled or withdrawn by a member of the DWP
staff, and that a civil servant in the 'guise' of a 'Decision Maker' can notify
the Tribunal Clerk without providing any evidence or having the authority of the
claimant. And this is said to have been recently introduced by the
Department of Work and Pensions in order to reduce the backlog of claims made
against them. A solicitor online suggested that this is a case of
interference with the law, and could be seen as perverting the course of
justice!

'Claimant sues the DWP in Court Action'

Disabled claimant Mark Lucas says the DWP are
breaching 'Disability Legislation' and he has successfully secured Legal Aid and
took on a Lawyer to fight his case in the court against the DWP. He says
they have refused to let him use e-mails to claim his PIP benefits or do it by
post. Mr Lucas from Staffordshire, says that he did not trust the DWP to
deal fairly with his benefits because it previously 'ALTERED' a written
statement he submitted in 2013 as part of a JSA Jobseekers claim while he was
attending University. He also says they actually accused him of fraud, and
they fined him £2,500? (17/1/2017)

'High Court Review of DWP Universal Credit is
granted by Judge'

THE HIGH COURT has granted a review into the
highly controversial Universal Credits rolled out by the DWP (and Iain
Duncan-Smith). The Lawyers for a terminally ill man said that their
client, now put on this one fits all payment has lost £178 per month. The
52 year old man who suffers from 'non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and Castleman's
Disease, used to be in receipt of the 'Severe Disability Premium and Enhanced
Disability Premium, and despite the new Minister for the DWP DAVID GAUKE MP
saying that 'no-one will experience a reduction in the benefit' the man
has less than he did before. The DWP refused to comment while the legal
action was in force.

PS: It says that the man is being
represented by Lawyers LEIGH DAY -- and our information on our legal info shows
that this firm was up before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal on the 13th of
November 2017 - when several solicitors including Martyn Jeremy Day were being
quizzed?

'The Tory DWP hammer hits out again in 2015'

On winning the 2015 election for another
period, the DWP and Tory Government were out again to re-enforce their
determined effort to destroy the benefits system and make the poor on Welfare
suffer as much as possible. And what they used next after Iain
Duncan-Smith and his terror campaign, was a 'benefits cap' on more than 60,000
households, making it £20,000 in the rest of the UK and £23,000 in London for
any family on welfare support. They had already 'frozen' benefits such as
JSA, and Tory Minister of the DWP, DAVID GAUKE was proud to be the bad guy who
implemented more misery on claimants, mind you to do this, they used the workers
in good paid jobs to despise the poor at every turn, actively portraying
jobseekers and the disabled as vermin who lived off the system. They even
upset 'some fair-minded' Judges, but that never bothered the Tories!

The Absolutely horrific Assessment Procedures (DWP)'

Yes, we're here again with more evidence of
the Tory Misery Campaign against the disabled and poorest in Society:
(Form information )Sandra says:

October 21, 2017 at 08:28 AM

Subject: PIP Assessment

Absolutely horrific, degrading, distressing, being treated like a criminal and a
liar and being left contemplating suicide as my only option, is my experience of
the PIP Assessment Process.

I started this hideous process in February 2017, the DWP has failed to adhere to
its own timetable throughout my claim and I had to hear of the outcome of my
assessment of being awarded no points for both components from Motability
Operations requesting my car back which is my lifeline to the outside world.

The award notice took 9 days to arrive after I had phoned to complain about
hearing of my non-award from Motability, thus reducing the time I had to
request, gather evidence and submit a request for a Mandatory Reconsideration to
less than 3 weeks. This action was repeated with the decision following said
reconsideration, again reducing the time I’ve had to submit a request to
appeal.

The face to face assessment was carried out in my home by an unqualified nurse
who was more interested in clock watching because she had a ferry to catch back
to the mainland from the Isle of Wight where I live.
The health professional spoke so fast I couldn’t understand her, she was very
rude throughout, talking over me not giving me time to answer her questions and
jumping from one subject to another.
On two occasions during the assessment she started to pack up her stuff to leave
stating that she couldn’t continue because she realised that my friend was
taking notes and insisted that she took photographs of the notes with her mobile
phone and the second time was because I didn’t answer her question quick
enough.

The report that followed was a tale of fiction, with so many inaccuracies,
inconsistencies and mistakes including the use of swear words and an unknown
diagnosis that it bore no resemblance to my Illnesses and Disabilities and how
they affect my daily living and mobility. I went from low rate care and high
rate mobility DLA to nothing under PIP.
The subsequent decisions made by the DWP were wholly based on, that I went to
mainstream school, I drive a car, and that I don’t take strong medication or
have specialist input including mental health teams.
The DWP have “cherrypicked” and taken statements, I have supposedly made at the
face to face assessment out of context in both the Mandatory Reconsideration
stage and their response to my appeal to suit their purpose and not recorded
them accurately. Supporting evidence from my GP and
Specialists letters from the time of diagnosis and subsequent treatments have
been totally ignored and neither the DWP or ATOS have at any time contacted my
GP for any medical evidence, which I am now having to pay for to support my
appeal.

I have been left totally traumatised and with making the hard decision of eating
or heating this winter. I have been informed that I won’t get an appeal hearing
for at least another six months, taking the whole sorry process over a year of
distress worry, anxiety and further deterioration of my already poor health.

The entire system is failing the very people it is supposed to support and in
the case of ATOS and their health professionals they are at best incompetent at
worst totally unfit to carryout complex and honest assessments and reports
especially for complex and little understood health conditions like Fibromyalgia
which I suffer from.They are not held to account. There is too much protection for these
health professionals, such as the claimant not able to take notes or record the
assessments to prove the lies made by these people and nothing to protect
claimant’s interests.

'Victims of Council Tax Demands'

ARAN WAITE killed himself after he was
threatened with bailiffs over an unpaid council tax bill. BLACKPOOL
COUNCIL were the ones behind this, and in their attempts to get back this tax
they failed to see that he was ill and unable to cope with debt that finally
drove him to suicide. PETER WILLIAMS killed himself after years of stress
over a non-payment of council tax. And he was about to be evicted by THE
CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE COUNCIL who did nothing and couldn't see that this man was
in need of desperate help, but none was available to him. MALCOLM BURGE
lost his benefits, his housing benefit was slashed in half all because of an
overpayment he was unaware of until they wrote and said they were halving his
current benefit to claw the money back (similar to The HMRC). He was so worried
that he sent letters to the council saying 'I've got no assets or savings, I'm
trying not to live, I'm trying to survive' -- The council ignored his letters --
they are NEWHAM COUNCIL so don't forget that if you're doing a bit of research.
The council like the others thought they were completely free of liability.
FRANCES McCORMACK, a mother, committed suicide over demands for bedroom tax
issued by ROTHERHAM COUNCIL. She killed herself where her young teenage
son died, and he was just 16. She had also been threatened with eviction.
She had written a final letter before the suicide to ex-PM David Cameron, but as
anybody knows, it was never read by him, and nor did he care.

In all off this one should not forget the
wealthy MP IAIN DUNCAN-SMITH, the man who had a hand in benefit cuts and changes
to the Welfare System. Like Cameron, he merely walked away, and is now
pretending to be a caring person, and non of us are fooled by this at all.

' MURDERED BY THE DWP AND GOVERNMENT' -- PAUL
DONNACHIE'S sister said her brother died after his benefits were stopped by the
Jobcentre Staff and DWP. She said that he had been murdered by the Tory
Government who couldn't care less. His body was discovered by bailiffs who
had been sent by the council to evict him. Apparently, he missed four
'work capability Assessments' by the DWP and Jobcentre, afterwhich, the DWP
without any real knowledge, informed GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL that Mr Donnachie was
capable of working. The council were advised to cancel his housing benefit
and council tax all benefits should be stopped, and this was a 50yr old man.
It was assessed by these Civil Servants that he could work, but the following
inquest said 'He must have had severe mental problems' Apparently, he
applied for a 'Welfare Crisis Grant' and this was turned down, and he was told
to go to the food banks. The DWP were unrepentant and accepted no blame?
(11/2/2016)

Strangely, today I saw a piece in the
news about the Homeless on the streets, and a crass Bournemouth Councillor acted
much in the same way as the Glasgow people. 'There's plenty of help
provided out there for these people' he said (and got away with it. Try
telling that to the sister of Paul Donnachie.......what frequently happens is
these Civil Servants live in a make-believe uncompassionate world, one run by
them.

DEMORALISED YOUNG JOBSEEKER COMMITS SUICIDE --
MARTIN HADFIELD 20, committed suicide just 24 hours after an appointment at his
local Jobcentre, and he was only twenty years of age. He fought hard
against the depression that was taking a tight grip on his well being. He
was tired of the continual disappointments as he clocked on at the Jobcentre
time and time again. He was also tired of the lack of quality pf advice
and support, which fell far below of his expectations as he went yet again to
the Jobcentre in BURY, near Manchester. His father said his son 'hated'
the place and the experience he had there. 'He would often say that you go
in with a sense of self-worth and really want a job, but come out feeling
demoralised and 'put down' by the ones who hold your life in their hands'
(21/5/2014)

THE CASE OF MICHAEL O'SULLIVAN - Deceased, and
the DWP's 'unknown' doctor who got it wrong? This is an alarming case in
many ways because of the 'unobtainable facts and denied transparency' of
Government. Michael O'Sullivan died shortly after the DWP assessed him
'fit to work' under IAIN DUNCAN-SMITH'S Welfare Regime. He was in fact
disabled with mental health problems that were exacerbated by the Jobcentre, and
he found himself being hounded back into work by the DWP. He was 60, and
receiving Income Support for a number of years until they did an 'assessment'
which turned his benefit status into the Jobseekers Allowance. The Inquest
coroner said the man's suicide was directly linked to a decision that was made
by the Jobcentre and DWP. The Inquest was also informed that the Assessing
Doctor was from the DWP's ATOS contract, and that he went against the opinion of
several other doctors who said Mr O'Sullivan was not fit for work. It
turned out that the DWP did not co-operate or tell anyone the name of the
doctor, despite being asked by a 'Disabled Group' who wanted to take this case
up with the GMC. They said they could not proceed without a name, a name
that the Government would not release? The Group are calling for an
Inquiry.

NB So there you have it, just a few of
the victims these Civil Servants bury, just as they do with data and
information. We have more to come.

DWP RELUCTANTLY INVESTIGATE 60 BENEFIT RELATED
DEATHS -- Since 20121 --- The Report says that the DWP 'secretly reviewed' their
own methods and influence into sixty benefit related suicides. It is said
that they reviewed the deaths of 'sixty customers' which were linked to the
Employment and Support Allowance claim process, or the refusal or removal of ESA
and other benefits, which included now deceased claimants, Paul Reekie, Nicholas
Barker, Jacqueline Harris, and Brian McArdle. But as expected, the DWP
consistently denies any connection with welfare cuts and the deaths of
claimants. (14/11/2014)

'Manager with DWP is exposed as a cheat'

GINA DUANE, a Civil Servant with the DWP
committed fraud and was found guilty at BLACKPOOL MAGISTRATES COURT (5/10/2015).
She held a £26,000 a year post with the DWP whilst claiming a Carer's Allowance.
She was claiming that she needed a carer day and night. It was said she
didn't inform her colleagues how much better she was (and the claim said she
could hardly walk or sleep properly), and she continued claiming the allowance.
As a result, she had received an overpayment of £7,415 over an 18 month period.
It was discovered that she went on a £25,000 spending spree and was declared a
bankrupt. She received a supervision order and costs set at £1,000.

'Un-named DWP Benefits Officer in Theft Case'

Yet another secrecy case here --- as a female
Benefits Officer and son were arrested on suspicion of tampering with benefit
claims in order to steal. The sketchy info is as follows -- The 48 year
old woman was arrested for an offence under 'The Misuse of Computers Act' and
'Theft Act' when she and her son were taken to Basildon Police Station for
questioning. It indicated that the son was primarily facing theft, but
that was it. There was mention of a Jobcentre in the Gore, Basildon, which
might make it easier to follow the case. (6/7/2016)

'Review demanded over 18yr old Jobseeker's
suicide'

Yet another death at the hands of the DWP --
JOBCENTRE 'Belittled him' says the report on a young jobseeker DAVID BROWN who
took his own life. The Coroner was told that the young man was under
'immense pressure' from the DWP, especially when they told him that he would
have his benefits stopped unless he did more to find employment. David had
told his sister Grace, that he was having a hard time from a woman at the dole,
and said she was very rude, and belittled him every chance she got. This
case was brought up in Parliament, and nicely convenient Teresa May PM was away
that day for PMQ's, and Tory Minister David Lidington stood in for her.
There was an half-hearted sort of apology, and another chance for the Tories to
say the system was 'working' The Jobcentre civil servant who
belittled David was never brought to account, she was protected by 'Crown
Immunity' given automatically to government staff. (7/12/2016)

NB: The DWP previously battled to stop the
release of 49 Peer Reviews of people who died while caught up in the Benefits
System!

'Claimant contacts the Police about DWP
Harassment'

A disabled woman became so terrified by a
'barrage' of texts and calls from the DWP's Jobcentre, that she lodged a
complaint with the Police as she felt her life was at risk. The woman,
with type 1 diabetes got threatening phone calls from the DWP saying they were
going to remove her benefits if she failed to attend a 'Work focused Interview'
She said she was subjected to an 'aggressive' stream of communication from the
DWP -- 6 phone calls, 2 texts, and four letters in just 7 weeks. Because
they became too intimidating, she called the Northamptonshire Police, and they
still have the complaint on file. This case has a stark similarity to the
case involving claimant David Clapson, he had diabetes and he died two weeks
after his benefits were sanctioned (2013).
The following piece concerning DAVID CAMERON Ex Tory PM is truly shocking,
he was questioned about the case on the ANDREW MARR SHOW on the BBC (19th April)
about the death of David Clapson and the DWP, but Cameron casually dismissed his
case with the usual Tory attitude, showing no care whatsoever. Clapson was
found dead in his flat without any money, without food and his fridge with his
medicine was cut off due to no electricity. Now you know what a shit
Cameron is, and his friends! (24/4/2015)

'Jobcentre Officer suspended over outrageous
comments to claimant'

DWP CIVIL SERVANT DAWN MARIE-SANDERS was
suspended over messages she posted and sent via her Facebook Account. She
told claimant, Mr Scott Bignell, a father of three children, that he was a drain
on society, besides the outrageous comment 'Start paying taxes or hang yourself'
Mrs Sanders from Farnborough, Hampshire claimed she hadn't sent the e-mail
messages? Her Facebook account has been closed and removed. The DWP
would not admit or discuss the situation.....so nothing new there!
(15/1/2014)

'Benefits Fraud Officer un-named yet again'

At least this will give other civil service
rogues a boost of confidence as a colleague has been given a shield to hide
behind -- this case is that of a COUNCIL OFFICER who worked at the BARNSLEY
COUNCIL. She has been dismissed for committing benefit fraud (8/12/2017).
It states that she was a Taxation and Incomes Officer, and that she had failed
to inform the council of her change of circumstances, which resulted in a
overpayment of £3,798 in housing benefit and £761.55 in council tax. It
tells us that this matter has been handed to the DWP for investigation, which in
turn will be given to the CPS for a possible criminal prosecution?

'Jobcentre staff investigated over
discrimination'

Two Gay men, Mellor and Pearson, said they
were both branded as 'Gay Boys' in the Jobcentre where they signed on.
They were both JSA Jobseeker claimants, and what they experienced they say, was
appalling. They accused the jobcentre staff of verbal abuse and they
claimed the staff gave them less help due to their sexual orientation.
They said that staff pointed at them as they left or arrived and made remarks
that were offensive. This all happened at the Jobcentre in the coastal
town of Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. Of course, as a routine move, the
DWP denied their claims, but had to investigate the case. So far nothing
has come of this...which could be a cover-up? (29/12/2010)

'Rude DWP Officer heard in voicemail
conversation'

This case is rather alarming and follows the
above one quite well -- ANNE GOODE a Civil Servant with the DWP is under
investigation after recorded voicemails at a claimant's house exposed outrageous
comments made by Goode and other staff present who hadn't realised that the
phone was still 'live' and not put down correctly in their office. When
claimant Cecilia Garcia played back her ansaphone she was utterly amazed to hear
comments about her being spoken by her advisor at the Jobcentre. She could
clearly hear Anne Goode saying 'She was a scrounging bastard' and more
obscenely, 'Popping out kids like pigs' The Bromley
Jobcentre Officer had called her to discuss her claim for benefits. Mrs
Garcia like many others, said she was struggling to pay the rent and asked what
support could she get. However, on picking up the phone, she did get
an answer, and as she was about to put her phone down she became aware that at
the other end in the jobcentre the conversation hadn't finished, it was about
her and the claim. The comments were nasty, rude and hurtful to say the
least and as a result she has now put this evidence on the Internet so that you
can hear the conversation yourselves in case you doubt it. So go to the
following link -
https://www.0845-numbers.uk/benefits/dwp-staff-caught-moaning-about-mum-of-3-on-voicemail/

The DWP claimed they were now looking into the
incident. (July 7th 2015)

'The Not-So-Great Britain, the DWP and Tories
achievement'

What used to be is no longer, and someone who
chose to help a claimant now sees the light, and it's not so pretty as it once
seemed!

Mandy says:

November 07, 2017 at 09:27 PM

Subject: ESA Assessment

I
am writing this on behalf of a friend I care for, she suffers mentally and
physically from many severe and chronic illnesses, and has a history of suicidal
attempts, being admitted twice into a psychiatric hospital. For her, getting
through each day and night is an extreme battle of pain and suffering. The
process of PIP/ESA accelerate her already fragile mental health, with an overall
deterioration where she has constant thoughts of suicide as she cannot cope with
it, and I struggle watching her deteriorate and unable to cope.
Dealing with your disabilities and illnesses is a battle in itself, without this
extra added enormous stress of these assessments and everything it entails. Only
when you have disabilities and illnesses can you understand the effects that
these assessments have on you, or when you see someone going through this.
Disabled people are one of the most vulnerable of our society, these are the
people that should not be made to suffer any more than what they do already by
this system. There should be compassion, not extra sufferance.
It should be your GP/Consultant who know you and your conditions best, that
should assess you, not privatised companies, like ATOS and CAPITA that know
nothing about you and your illnesses, and constant struggles, and are complete
strangers.
This system dehumanises the vulnerable. This country used to be called Great
Britain, sadly it is no longer GREAT, but picks on the weakest, most vulnerable
of our society.
After an ESA assessment for my friend, she scored zero points. The assessor told
lies and did not listen to what she said. I saw a great decline in her mental
and physical state, and suicidal thoughts were forefront in her mind, I was on
suicide watch. I was there to reassure her and care for her, I found all of this
very difficult and very stressful. A tribunal followed, and my friend had
totally lost the will to live, the stress on top of all her disabilities and
illnesses was enormous, she did not cope and her mental health spiralled out of
control. She was planning her suicide and no longer wanted to live. She needed
the support and help from this country, and in order to get it, she had the
humiliation of having to attend a court, and feel for the first time in her life
like she was a criminal through no fault of her own. Anyone can become ill or
disabled at any time in their life.
Not one disabled person should have to go through this system. She had said to
me, she hadn’t reached this point in her life to feel degraded, humiliated,
panic and fear of having to face a panel of judges in order to receive a benefit
to survive. The judge awarded her ESA, but this system needs a drastic change,
please stop punishing the disabled and vulnerable in our society, its these
people that need your help most.
Do you not think that if you can choose between being disabled or healthy and
able to go out to work, the latter is what you would dream of. There needs to be
justice.

'Senior DWP Investigator/Ex-Cop/ commits Fraud'

IAN HARRISON, a Senior Government Benefit
Fraud Investigator (and Former Police Officer) had been secretly fiddling the
DWP who he worked for. His job was to investigate 'Dole Fiddlers and
Fraud' and ironically, he was the biggest one! It was said that he left
the Lancashire Police Force and joined the DWP Fraud Unit investigating false
claims. In court it was said' He knew the system well when he began
defrauding the DWP and expected to get away with it. He was finally
arrested for fraudulently claiming a higher rate disability allowance, and
srealing £10,672. BLACKPOOL MAGISTRATES convicted him of theft and he was
given a suspended sentence. (May 2012)

'DWP Officer diverts benefits into own account'

Civil servant SAMANTHA DOUGLAS at the Benefits
Office administered transactions into her own bank account the report says.
It went onto say she took around £24,000 which should have been paid to
claimants on Income Support. Douglas used her knowledge of the system to
track down benefit payments which had been processed, but not paid out because
of 'errors' Previous history revealed that she had forged her partner's
signature in order to obtain a mortgage. She was given a suspended
sentence at MOLD CROWN COURT.

'Benefits Officer in cash Fraud Case'

It was said that DWP CIVIL SERVANT SANA
SHAHEEN diverted benefit cash into her friend's bank account, which amounted to
£3,500 while working at the DWP OFFICE in LEEDS. She appeared before Leeds
Crown Court where she was given a suspended six month prison sentence and a 150
hours community service order. She admitted making changes on the DWP
office computer on eleven occasions using a smart card which allowed her into
the system. (17/7/2013)

'Benefit Claimants go to social media for a
voice'

A Jobseeker said ' We need to vote in order to
get a chance to survive the future onslaught on our human rights' and on that he
is so right, the Tories have 'behind the scenes' made many changes to lessen
those rights by not ratifying the charter and are on a course to taking welfare
out altogether. And they do need voting out in the next election, solidly
and cripplingly so that they cannot get back into power for years. The
choice of a Labour Party isn't that appealing, as Blair and his cronies fooled
the people and acted like Tories, which must never happen again. The
majority of promises politicians make are not true, they are just used for
voting speeches. Back to our subject, hundreds of claimants tell of the
hell and abuse mounted by civil servants and the Government. One woman, a
claimant of benefit, who was a victim of killer nurse Beverley Allitt, suffered
sheer hell at the hands of the DWP who demanded £23,000 from Kayley Asher who
was awarded compensation at the time. They said she had failed to declare
the cash, therefore she must pay back her benefits to the tune of £23,000.
Her father said they suffered for almost 18 months of torment and sleepless
nights worrying about what would happen. Intervention by the BBC coverage
of her case changed the DWP's stand, and they said they'd revised their
decision! (4/5/2017)

'The Jobcentre 'Recording' that is unavailable
online'

This piece seemed rather good, especially as
they claimed to have a recording of an interview at the Jobcentre, and it says
the lady who recorded it was very 'clued up' The DWP gave a Freedom
of Information response to what their policy was on recordings by claimants in
secret or privately, and that is on view at the site we visited for this, and to
listen to the interview or watch a video. You can read it all for
yourselves, which in their answer says you can record, but? We found
the recording 'unavailable' and without an explanation on the site one wonders
why? Did the DWP remove it? go to -
https://welfaretales.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/what-happened-when-she-recorded-her-jobcentre-interview/

'DWP get big support from the Twins of Evil'

And there are no prizes for guessing who are
the twins of evil -- they are David Cameron and Iain Duncan-Smith, the two who
went rushing away when they made a mess of things. Duncan-Smith has
convinced himself he's a good guy and thinks no one will remember the misery
that he's caused (that's usual Tory practise), and Ex PM David Cameron and his
millions who lives far away in his mansion. Back in 2014, Cameron said 'A
key part of our plan is to move to full employment making sure that everyone who
can work is in work' His faithful lap dog and buddy, Duncan-Smith
said 'Claimants who have been unemployed for a number of years will be able to
benefit from the improving jobs market and growing economy.' Many
economists told Cameron that unemployment would never be zero, it was an
impossible task and mostly based on a fairy tale. Duncan-Smith ignored
social welfare groups who told him that he was doing harm to the poorest in
society, but what did he care... these two Tories are rich, and all they ever
believed in was power and ego....not people!

'DWP GUILTY OF MALADMINISTRATION'

The Parliament Ombudsman's Office found
JOBCENTREPLUS guilty of maladministration. They ordered the Chief
Executive to issue an apology and pay compensation of £10,000 to Mr K. who had
been treated with outrageous unfairness throughout his claim for justice from
the DWP. They even refused to implement the Tribunal's decision. It
was heard that they wrongly withheld his benefits for almost a year without any
consideration for his well-being. They stopped his housing benefit without
any warning whatsoever, refused him any kind of payment and failed to explain
any of the decisions they had taken in relation to his claim or case. Even
in the face of him winning his appeal, they continued to make life very awkward
for him and ignored orders that should have terminated their aggressive
behaviour towards him. The fact that no civil servant at the Jobcentre
were brought to book, suspended or dismissed was a scandal. (27/11/2009)

'The DWP with ease, how they aim to lie and
deceive'

DISCRIMINATION is said to be unlawful in UK
society, but it has been seen to be okay for the DWP to practise this albeit
under another disguise. A report says that Benefit Assessors have been
told to discriminate against claimants with mental health conditions. It
was discovered that Tory Ministers suggested that people with anxiety and mental
issues do not really need help?
New guidelines in the DWP with Assessors for PIP benefit, appear to explicitly
single out those with mental health conditions who suffer identical impacts as
those with physical conditions. Assessors were told that people whose
mobility is limited to mental health conditions should not be entitled to
receive the mobility component of PIP. Their doctrine says 'that mobility
impairments caused by psychological issues are not relevant'
T The DWP climbed all around this in the usual 'wriggle' insisting that
this was the original intention of PIP and that it gives mental health the same
recognition? And by way of a footnote, The Upper
Tribunal ruled that 'People who need help due to psychological issues should be
entitled to the same help' (14/3/2017)

'DWP to pay back 1.5 billion to claimants they
knew they'd wronged'

This is rather a twist on the actual truth of
the matter, something the DWP are rather good at. Because they are only
now! owning up to having cheated thousands of disabled claimants, when at the
time, they didn't care one jot. It is quite obvious from the tone of the
article and the government, that they are treating this like some kind of error,
when in truth it is far from that. The report says that an estimated
180,000 people are due to arrears payments totalling 970 million pounds after
under-receiving ESA benefit payments, and the government say that they will be
paying out this money over the financial years of 2018 and 2019....in to 2020.
Apparently, this has emerged from a decision by the DWP's Esther McVey to
ditch a policy of refusing to reimburse missed payments dating back before
October 2014.
(October 2018)

'Councils pay huge sums on suspended staff each
week'

A new Report has revealed that councils in the
UK are spending a £1million a week to suspended staff. The Times says that
some 10,000 local government civil servants have been sent home on full pay over
a number of allegations from the petty to the serious. Some 418 city,
town, district and borough councils had a rise in their suspension figures.
One Derbyshire case quoted says the council has put that person on paid leave
for 3 years so far, after suspending them in 2014. A Monmouthshire social
services worker on £42,000 has been suspended on full pay for 2 years for
'management irregularities' (Dec 2017)

'New Expenses Scandal by Peers is derailed by
subterfuge'

Politicians? yes, the ones in The House Of
Lords this time, The Peers, and its having a bit of a rough time surfacing due
to certain factors like Teresa May, and other Government Departments eager to
bury this....because they have learnt a few tricks since the House Of Commons
Expenses Scandal, and that is? get it hushed up quickly and destroy as much
evidence as possible before the Press get their hands on it. And what is
this new expenses scandal? well, its been reported that some 16 Peers have
claimed around £400,000 in expenses without speaking in any debates or
submitting any questions for an entire year! The Press refers to
them as being 'The Silent Peers' which make up 1 in 10 of the 799-strong upper
chamber. They have been accused of 'gaming the system' and pocketing
thousands of pounds in expenses and daily allowances. The report says that
during 2016 to 2017, sixteen members claimed more than £10,000 each in expenses
according to figures supplied by the Electoral Reform Society. Labour's LORD
KIRKHILL claimed £43,896, and Labour's BARONESS ADAMS claimed the amount of
£41,287. This all came out when an inquiry revealed that 115 Peers claimed
more than £1.3 million from the taxpayer despite failing to speak for a full
year....and all these peers can collect a cool £300 for each sitting. In
2010 - 2015, thirty Peers claimed more than £750,000 between them over the
course of the last Parliament. And incidentally, the last Prime Minister,
David Cameron, says 'He now regrets not reforming the second house in the last
Parliament?, yes, he probably regrets nothing but his downfall in the Brexit
thing, and boy oh boy, you couldn't see him for dust, he scarpered as they say
at breakneck speed without any sanctions whatsoever.
The Report 'House of Lords' - Fact v Fiction' revealed that the Prime Ministers
plans to 'increase' the House of Lords by an additional FIFTY MEMBERS , of whom
most will be CONSERVATIVES, will cost around £1.3 million per year to the
taxpayer, and they will be able to turn up at the House without any
obligations and claim £300 a day.
The CPS say in relation to the expenses Saga, that their decision on whether or
not to charge Conservatives will remain unaffected? over the claims that
they broke election expenses rules in the 2015 General Election. Some 14
Police Forces sent files to the CPS which is understood to involve some 30
individuals in the Tory corner. And it appears that the Conservative Party
were fined £70,000 by the Electoral Commission and its former Treasurer was
reported to the police concerning the matter.
Scotland's Nicola Surgeon suggested that the Teresa May called the Election to
muddy the waters of the scandal so that the 2015 Tory Expenses Fraud would not
be centre stage and 'catch up with her' -- She said that the Tories should
not be allowed to escape accountability for any 'misdemeanours' when she
addressed the Scottish Trade Union Congress in Aviemore. Further to
this we have more devious action from former Scottish Secretary ALISTAIR
CARMICHAEL MP, and the report says that he has admitted 'lying' about leaking a
memo to damage the SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon. And just to make you
realise just what kind of politicians you are dealing with, this matter was
raised and suggested for a Parliamentary Standards investigation. And the
former Liberal Democrat Sir Malcolm Bruce suggested the Commons would be
cleared out if every MP who told a lie had to quit!
And to end this, we have the Peer who was charged with 'False Accounting' --
LORD HANNINGFIELD has been charged with false accounting 'in relation to claims
for daily allowance at The House of Lords, after clocking in for no more than 40
minutes per visit? The former Tory Council leader was 'very
disappointed' at the decision to charge him.

A further 23 MP's were revealed in this
scandal of expenses, so we shall take the above subject further and name more of
them. And we begin with ANNA SOUBRY, as it states that the Nottinghamshire
police force are looking into her expenses claims during the election, along
with several others who may have deliberately breached the spending limits.
The news came just as The Communities Minister Secretary GREG CLARK would only
say he had 'every reason to suppose ' the Tories properly reported their 2015
General Election Expenses? But following this assumption by Greg Clark,
The Tory Party blamed 'an administration error' for failing to register some
accommodation costs?

Labour MP SIMON DANCZUK was ordered to repay
£11,500 in wrongly claimed expenses. The Rochdale MP had been suspended
from the Labour Party in relation to another matter the report says. It
says he faces investigations on several fronts including sexual harassment
besides the expenses he claimed for parking charges in Manchester airport while
he was away on holiday in Spain.

And in an extra bonus, we have Minister AMBER
RUDD in a spot of trouble over not declaring 'lobbyist' brother. The
report says she failed to comply with the new rules requiring Mp's to disclose
their links to lobbyists in official Parliamentary Records. This
rule was brought in after the Election. Website 'Total politics' unearthed
this and revealed that the lobbyist concerned was her brother Roland Rudd.
RUDD accused of 'Stitch-up' over the Orgreave inquiry. -- She's here again, a
true blue Conservative, The Home Secretary Amber Rudd has been accused of an
'establishment stitch-up' after she rejected calls for an official inquiry into
the violent clashes between the police and strikers at Orgreave during the 1984
miners' dispute. Her announcement provoked anger from campaigners who said
she had misled them into believing she would order a review into the so-called
'Battle of Orgreave' on June the 18th 1984. They claim that police
officers directed by the South Yorkshire Police conspired to fabricate evidence
at the inquiry similar to the Hillsborough findings which took 25 years.

PS: It is obvious to anyone reading this, that the
Politicians, especially the Tories, have trouble with 'Declarations' and
'Compliance' but they expect the public to do this when they crack the whip, and
enforce penalties for not doing so.....but with them it's a mistake or
oversight, anything but the truth really!

NB: 2017 has gone, and there are no charges being
brought in relation to the Pre-Election Peers Scandal, or the Tory Election
Expenses thing, so it seems that Teresa May might have kicked the whole thing
into the long grass as she intended, and Both Houses will certainly be pleased
to have got away with fooling the country again!.......they are certainly
learning from their mistakes!

'DWP refuse to disclose reports on Universal
Credits despite being ordered to do so'

It's not really unusual to find this Tory
Government selecting not to obey something they set up, they've done this time
and time again as you can see on this site. John Slater sent in a request
through the Governments own Freedom of Information Act, with a Commissioner to
see that the FOI act fairly. Mr Slater wanted information on the Universal
Credit system and the five reports that had been commissioned by the government.
It was a controversial subject, but they refused to hand any of the information
over. He then decided to use the complaints procedure which went through
the ICO -- Information Commissioners Office. The Commissioner ruled that
the five assessment reviews (PAR's) should be disclosed as they fell within the
right of the public to know.
But the DWP didn't budge or comply with the Commissioner's binding decision,
they absolutely refused to cooperate with the Commissioner. The DWP said
they were appealing the decision, AND THAT CASE IS SUPPOSED TO BE HEARD AT A
FIRST TIER TRIBUNAL IN APRIL 2018. On hearing this and knowing they had to
say something to Mr Slater in the way of an apology, The ICO sent Mr Slater;
setting out the DWP's reasons for not wanting to disclose the information.
The DWP said 'The INFORMATION in THE REVIEWS WAS EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE' because
it could 'Inhibit the free and frank provision of advice, or inhibit the free
and frank exchange of views of the purposes of deliberation and another reason
was, 'that it could prejudice - the effective conduct of Public Affairs.'
But clearly, the only one inhibiting anything here is the Government and the DWP
who pick and choose what rulings they want to abide by, In this case The
Information Commissioner said it was in the Public Interest, and what we have
here is a Tory Government blatantly being very obstructive and wilful, and most
definitely 'NOT TRANSPARENT OR ACCOUNTABLE' (2/11/2017)

PS: They have done this several times, and
some we have listed in cases here, so we're going to go looking for all of the
cases they have not complied with their own laws and let you know the total and
the cases they have concealed information from the public. In fact as a
taster, we will give you a case where they have been sued for failing in their
duty, their statutory duty no less.

'GOVERNMENT SUED OVER POLLUTION BY
ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYERS' -- CLIENT EARTH an Environmental Group has already
won two court cases against government ministers over their failure to meet
legal limits for nitrogen dioxide, and having studied the latest plans to tackle
the problem which will still fall short of what is needed. They have now
instructed their lawyers to launch another legal action against the government
over 'its stubborn failure' to tackle illegal air pollution. The
government said it could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

'DWP Computer glitch causes benefits scandal'

It is reported that up to 4,000 families in
the Crewe and Nantwich area may have to return cash from overpaid tax credit
payments that the DWP computers caused. It says that some of the families
could be stripped of regular childcare and living allowance payments, and be
forced to refund the Inland Revenue at its discretion, with NO RIGHT OF APPEAL.
The DWP revealed that £3.9 million was overpaid involving 4,000 families, and
that the DWP gave one family just 30 days to pay up! Local CAB
manager, Wendy Tozer said 'This is an official error by the DWP and it's now
causing real harm and claimants are struggling to cope on income which puts them
below the poverty line.' (29/6/2015)

'Tory Minister accepts £4,000 donation for
Lobbying and then bans it'

Hypocrites, yes, that's the mild word for MP's
like MATTHEW HANCOCK a staunch Conservative Minister who is into, 'don't do as I
do, but do as I say' The Cabinet Office Minister accepted £4,000 from the
chairman of the Institute for Economic Affairs several weeks before telling the
house there was to be a ban and clampdown on lobbying by charities promoted by
the right-wing think tank. Neil Record, City Currency manager donated
£22,000 to Mr Hancock and the Tories since 2010. It's true to say that the
Tories are a 'shifty' bunch of politicians.

NOTE: Would you believe that the above
MP is now a Cabinet Minister in Teresa May's Tory Government of 2018?

'4 Years jail for expenses fraud Labour MEP'

These reports are getting regular, and this
one is featuring LABOUR MEP PETER SKINNER, who was on that Expenses gravy train,
this new one of 2015. It ios stated that he fraudulently claimed £100,000
in expenses which should have been used for support staff when he was
representing the South East of England in the European Parliament. He
appeared before Southwark Crown Court on one count of fraud, one count of false
accounting and one count of making a false instrument (forgery). It says
he spent the money on luxury items, his divorce and a Rover Discovery 4X4
vehicle. Skinner lived in Rochester, Kent, and he was jailed for 4 years.
Amusingly, the Judge said that this kind of behaviour made the public
distrustful of Parliament and the Institution itself! That's already
quite common to the public these days, and the Politicians look away when its
said in programmes like 'Question Time' but they still go on thinking it will
just brush over. One other point in this trial was that the Judge said 'To
suggest as you did at trial that everybody was doing the same or that it was too
complicated a system to manage properly is an insult to the public' 'You
have a cynical disregard for others.' (30/4/2016)

'Tory Bully MP in Voicemail rants'

Another delightful Conservative MP show us how
nice they are, It is reported that MP LUCY ALLEN is already involved in a
controversy because she 'doctored' an e-mail sent to her by a constituent, to
make it appear to include a death threat and posted it online. Her other
issue pending is that she made a series of ranting telephone calls to a party
member when she was off sick. In the article it mentions that she
suggested that her 26 year old constituency case worker 'had alcohol problems'
and that she had stolen a computer from the MP's office.

''MP in assault on opponent'

Politics, .... It is reported that a Labour MP
lashed out at a woman by kicking her. LABOUR MP MARIE RIMMER for the
constituency of St Helens South and Whiston, appeared in court denying she had
assaulted Patricia McLeish in 2014 during the referendum campaign. She
said that the labour MP approached her while she was handing out leaflets, and
was acting in an aggressive manner. The Sheriff's court in Glasgow
adjourned the case to a trial date in July.

'The Jeremy Hunt MP conundrum?'

TORY MP's come and go and return yet again
like a crooner doing his 88th Comeback Retirement show in the World of Music
that contains the same sleaze and business ethic of Politicians. Here's a
man who took on the National Health Service and faced a lot of criticism for
many of the decisions he made. This is the same Jeremy Hunt that time and
time again avoided questions on a Channel 4 programme when he was about to be
asked about sugar in relation to children's health. Hunt dodged Hugh
Fearnley-Whittingstall,
a celebrity chef throughout the programme promising to set up a meet. Here
we have him admitting to the breach of money laundering rules, and the MP'S
Watchdog seeking to get answers in the House of Commons. The report says
The Health Secretary has a personal fortune of 14 million pounds, and that he
failed to declare his ownership of a company he set up to buy seven luxury
flats. It says he had a 50 percent stake in the venture. It then goes on
about the meaningless 'offence of failing to declare such information carrying a
penalty of a fine and up to 2 years in prison'.... but as we have told you
before, this doesn't apply to MP's of his calibre, he's more or less exempt from
such action, and of course as you would expect by now, he made an 'error' as
they say quite frequently. he later corrected both errors and said that it
was a 'mistake' by his accountant. All we can say here is - you make
such a mistake with HMRC and see the arrest warrants arriving to say that you
lied? Millionaires like Hunt have power and wealth.

'Drugs found in Home Office toilet'

Considering The Home Office deals with all
matters of Law, this report on 'A' Class drugs being found in a toilet on
Government premises staffed by civil servants should amaze one, but think again,
drugs are used by the rich and powerful besides the 'ordinary' folk. It is
stated that they were found in a 'Disabled users toilet' which yet again puts a
new slant on things. So who put them there remains a mystery but I think
you can rule out the general public seeing as it was in the London headquarters
in its Westminster Office, and that leaves it fairly and squarely with the civil
servants.

'Former Council leader lied in Cyril Smith
Inquiry'

A recent report looking back into the 'Cyril
Smith Historic Abuse Case' has revealed that the former leader of Rochdale
Council could face a police investigation . RICHARD FARNELL then head of
the council has tweaked the Abuse Inquiry's radar. They say that it defies
belief that Farnell who was the Council Labour leader from 1986 to 1992 was
unaware of the abuse at the council run KNOWL VIEW SCHOOL. They also
remarked that it was shameful that he refused to take responsibility and blamed
education and social services officials at the council. The Inquiry found
that he lied in evidence about the school being linked to MP Cyril Smith.
Farnell was shocked at the findings of the Inquiry?

(there is more of this if you wish to scroll
down for the larger detailed inquiry into the Child Abuse Scandal)

'Parliamentary Civil Servant arrested over bar
brawl'

An 'un-named' Parliament officer was arrested
on the suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm at a bar in the Houses of
Parliament. It says that a 57 year old member of staff remained in custody
following the incident. Apparently, a fight broke out between to male
members of Parliament in the Sports and Social Club bar, which has a 'rowdy'
reputation it is said. Amazingly, this was the same bar in which another
fight was mounted between MP Eric Joyce and another person? (he was not
charged with any offence)

'MP's Aide accused of groping'

Civil Servant RICHARD HOLDEN, aide to the
Defence Secretary SIR MICHAEL FALLON appeared at the Westminster Magistrates
Court accused of groping a female victim during a party at his house at
Christmas. It is reported that he denied the allegations and that the
matter has been referred to Southwark Crown Court for trial. It was also
mentioned that he stood for election unsuccessfully as a Tory candidate in
Preston in 2015. We also see that Sir Michael Fallon himself quit his
Cabinet post after allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women who
reported him.

'MP's turn 'blind eye' on serious misconduct
allegations'

Although we've heard lots of rhetoric from
MP's over the many sexual impropriety revelations, and publicly announcing that
it had no place in politics, then this next item will not please you, because NO
action was taken when a House of Commons staff member reported being
sexually assaulted, and MP's were told about the matter. Plaid Cymru's
leader at Westminster, Liz Saville Roberts, was among a number of politicians
who raised the matter of a 'blind eye' attitude being taken in matters that were
of a very serious nature. She said she had the case but nothing was done,
and she had reported it to the correct authorities, She said 'I am deeply
disappointed and distrustful...and the distrust among some was now becoming
endemic.' She said her report had gone to an Officer of Parliament, and
after that she heard nothing.

'A Case of double-standards for MP Eric Pickles'

PERSISTENT HYPOCRISY, AND DOUBLE STANDARDS!
that has been levelled at Sir Eric Pickles, especially as he was appointed as
the national anti-corruption champion...he apparently threw himself vigorously
into looking into alleged fraud by Muslims in the London Borough of Tower
Hamlets, examining everything in fine detail. But, as the report says,
there is a double-standard at work here. On the one hand, Sir Eric comes
down like a ton of bricks on Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage Muslims who
allegedly cheated at local elections. Yet he appears to have cleared,
without a second glance, the group of white -public school educated Tory
Politicians caught up in the 2015 General Election Expenses Scandal. This
is deeply unfair, and brings British National Politics into disrepute.

'MP in 'male escort case' stands down from
Ministerial Position'

KEITH VAZ - LABOUR MP, was once here there and
everywhere rising through the ranks of the Labour Party, he was also regularly
seen on THE HOME AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE, righting wrongs and quizzing
government departments on their honesty and openness, and he was also the former
Europe Minister. But now, he is none of those, because it was discovered
that he'd been watched by a Sunday Newspaper who announced in a 'scoop' that Mr
Vaz had met two Eastern European men at a flat and paid them cash for their
services. Other information that came out was incidents such as 2002 when
he was suspended for a month by Parliament for making false allegations against
a former policewoman over a complaint against his wife. He was also
criticised for failing to fully co-operate with an earlier inquiry in 2001.

'Tory MP faces rape allegation'

FORMER GOVERNMENT WHIP CHARLIE ELPHICKE was
suspended last November over 'unidentified serious allegations; the report said,
having been accused of rape by a female member of staff. He instantly
claimed he had not committed any 'wrongdoing' -- a familiar theme often put
forward by politicians. The report said that he was interviewed under
caution by police officers in Deal, Kent; Mr Elphicke is the MP for Dover it
says. Two women were interviewed over alleged sexual offences and
the investigation continues.

'Labour MP in 'sexual comments' row'

A Shadow Minister for the Labour Party, KARL
TURNER MP, was accused of acting inappropriately by a party member in his
constituency office in 2015. The Labour MP for Kingston Upon Hull East,
denies he used offensive remarks and touched the woman's buttocks, or that he
acted in a misogynistic manner on the day in question. The report says
that the Party are investigating the matter further.

'Labour accused of burying rape report of
activist aged 19'

On a more serious note we have a report of an
alleged cover-up by the Labour Party dated November the 1st 2017. The new
report says that the hierarchy are now under pressure to reveal the report they
are so anxious to bury. It was and investigation into sexual harassment
inside the Party, and specially related to the rape of an activist who was aged
nineteen. A probe was launched into the rape of activist Bex Bailey
who said she'd been raped during a party, and that she was urged to keep quiet
about the incident by a senior figure in the Labour Party who told her she could
damage her career prospects. Miss Bailey who was a former member of
the National Executive had been allowed to see selective bits of the report, the
published article had no plans to surface in the public domain!

'Tory MP quizzed by police in expenses forgery
claim'

We now head back into that furore over
expenses that almost brought the Government down, but failed alas!
The report says that Tory MP CHRIS DAVIES was interviewed by police over a claim
of expenses that amounted to 700 pounds. It is said that he faked invoices
to that amount for furniture and photos for his Constituency Office in
Radnorshire, Wales. It has mentioned that he claims there was 'an honest
mistake' in connection with the matter but nothing on the paperwork. The
fabrication eludes to two motes being made, one for 450 and the other 250.
Other submissions about the furniture and photos were also suspect according to
the report. Forgery is defined as making a false instrument with the
intention that it should be accepted as genuine to the prejudice of the other
person, the 1981 Act states that someone doing this could expect to be jailed on
summary conviction to 6 months and/or a fine of a thousand pounds, if sent to
trial the jail time could be up to ten years. But have no worry, he's a
politician and it's highly unlikely any of this will go his way, power is
influence and they'll use it.

'Tory Mayor quits of dubious activity involving
Web Links'

Conservative Mayor PETER LUCEY admitted to
'unacceptable behaviour' when it was discovered he had web links to an
Islamophobic website and other far-right groups. It was said in the report
that this embarrassed the local council in Wokingham in Berkshire. It was
also said he had social media connections with the Gatestone Institute, a right
wing anti-Muslim thinktank. Mr Lucey resigned.

MP'S WARNED OVER USING 'MISLEADING' SOCIAL
MEDIA CLIPS -- House of Commons Directive.

'Cuts by Tory Council puts lives in danger'

The Conservatives can't help being what they
are, and despite protestations their true colours of greed, manipulation and
deceit always gets the better of them. Apparently, the councils are the
same as we see in this next report. To the Tories AUSTERITY is just a word
they can profit by, and imposing cuts helps their cause to serve themselves.
UNISON found that 79 percent of local workers in councils have no confidence in
the future of services that at one time belonged to the people as part of a
promise by politicians, only to arrive at 2018 and find that many services don't
exist and others are being cut. The most annoying thing is that some of
these vital services were put together by a legal requirement that they should
be carried out, but now you see this government not only break promises but the
law too, and they do this knowing they cannot be brought before a court because
they have 'immunity' and can merely say the funds have run out even when they
actually cut them. The Public don't seem to be aware that previous
administrations going back years put certain responsibilities out of the laws
way and made other laws and regulations that had opt out and immune clauses any
government could rely on when needed, that's how government operates. Even
now the elderly and vulnerable are becoming victims of these cuts and it is
common knowledge that the local authorities having cut services are putting the
public at risk. The National Audit Office recently announced in a
report that in real terms the Government funding for town halls in England fell
by almost 49 percent from 2010-11 to 2017-18.

'Public beginning to question all this council
waste'

STOP WASTING OUR CASH is their call to
councils, and some outraged taxpayers have voiced their opinion and looked at
some of this waste. Irene of Manchester is appalled on finding out that
the Conservative Council of Bournemouth spent £3 million on a failed surfing
reef along with a huge pay-off for the council officer in charge of it.
George of London reckons these wasted costly council ideas that fail should not
be allowed to be passed on to the taxpayer 'They never really learn the
value of money when it's not theirs, they just squander it and keep on doing it
time and time again.' Billy of Sutton says 'We have all seen council
schemes being propped up with taxpayers money, especially these computer ideas
that in the end don't work and the taxpayer ends up footing the cancellation
bill besides the initial contract fee and installation. Jenny says, 'Our
councils are cutting services and many other things despite having money to go
onto schemes that are trialled and often find they're not cost effective after
spending thousands on just looking at them, they begin to forget whose paying.'

'DWP Payout £20 million in Benefits 'Mistake' to
prisoners'

The DWP admitted that the blunder had gone on
for years, a scandal costing taxpayers £20 million. The DWP wrongly paid
out millions in benefit to prisoners in jail without ascertaining where these
people were. Under the rules, prisoners behind bars are not entitled to
benefit payments, yet the system of paying out went on for two decades before
being discovered. The DWP said this happened because they have no central
register or lists to cross-check, but they announced that the loophole has now
been closed. The fraud which cost millions has still not answered how
considering claimants sign on, still got paid without ever being seen once they
went to jail, and there's the matter of a 'change in circumstances' -- but none
of this has been answered. (16/12/2012)

'The Kirklees DWP Disc Blunder security risk'

This item goes several years back, and the
report says - the government disc blunder is set to cost Kirklees Taxpayers
around £18,000 in costs. The disc is said to have contained data about the
residents on benefits, some 45,000 people whose personal info and details have
now been 'lost' Council Chiefs with DWP Officials are looking into
the matter and have ordered a review of the situation, and imposed a freeze on
sending discs by private courier or the regular postal system. After a
meeting it was decided that they would write to all of the 45,000 claimants to
expain the matter and where they stood.

'The DWP Victims, of which there are many'

One could ask if anyone out there cares? as it
would seem few do. The DWP obviously don't and the Tories a lot less...so
we thought you may as well read about the misery some people go through in the
benefits system that was originally designed to help those who needed it the
most.......here are a few cases to be going on with:

KEITH says:

October 20, 2017 at 10:30 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

The assessment
process is run by overpaid organisations like ATOS, who employ inadequately
trained non-medical staff to make life changing decisions. Those with a mental
illness are discriminated against beyond belief. Laws in place to protect such
people swept aside. Even having a shave on my interview day was used against me
for my mental illness claim. At the start of this miserable process, after a
fight, a reasonable decision was made only to be changed by what can only be
Government policy (20 points to zero in under a year with no change in health).
Going through Mandatory Reconsideration or the Upper Tribunal process is
unequivocal hell. Pure and simple mental torture that must be extremely costly
to the country. It surely made my illness substantially worse to the point where
it is unlikely I will ever return to work again, after 37 years of full
employment. My family destroyed and 27 year relationship lost. The DWP and HMRC
proactively tie you up in knots so that you don't know whether you are coming or
going, surely in the hope that you will simply give up. Having a mental illness
making this all the more difficult to deal with. (retract) The system has no
compassion and assessments are riddled with lies and inaccuracies. A silly
example being that in my report it was stated I was able to drive my daughter 30
minutes EACH WAY to school, so an hour. In order that she attended school, on an
irregular basis I did uncomfortably drive, taking MAX 10 minutes BOTH WAYS.
There really is not enough space here to explain the level of stress and anguish
experienced since becoming ill and trying to claim some help after paying
unbroken taxes since leaving school. The whole system is merciless and needs to
be changed from top to bottom, and not by some backroom fool with no idea of the
real world at Westminster or the DWP .Even those at the brink of suicide are
cast aside. To many suicide is an easier option than getting help.

Steve says:

October 20, 2017 at 10:02 PM

Subject: PIP and ESA Assessment

This is one of the most Inhumane Government Scams in Modern History. The
so-called 'Medical Assessors' are 'Unfit For Any Purpose', least of all Medical,
they are word? Money-grubbing Employment Bureaus with 'Set Quotas' to meet,
employing nurses & Paramedics & barely any G.P..'s & not one familiar with your
disease or disability or both, unfit for purpose scum, that lie constantly, fail
to give their names but ask you everything security related. They are neither
friendly or helpful or truthful or Medical. As are the DWP. Over Five years ago
the DWP deemed me 'unfit for for work', with TWO SOLID YEARS put together of
HARASSMENT from the LAST FIVE YEARS and MORE. They have Annual Documentation
from Doctors and Specialists Stating In Severe Chronic Pain, Two Years Severe
Sleep Deprivation - since Left medically untreated, I had a life & a
professional career, my education self-funded & higher than theirs, worked all
my life in jobs to pay for that education & career. They Have at Least Four
Detailed forms of Severe Physical and Neuro-cognitive Damage and confusion and
Dementia and far more & they have Medical Statements and Supporting Evidence of
Approx. 150 Pages of Evidence, stating The severity, Unfit for Work, and
Considered Degenerative and Permanent. I wrangled on Several High dose Pain
Medications, Four High Dose 'controlled Drugs' on a crutch to a FOUR TIMES
PROMISED "Of Course You can Record the Assessment, no problem" ASSESSMENT on
crutch and as my support began recording THEY RAN LIKE RABBITS!! I worked far
harder than these (retract), it takes all I have & more just to 'get through a
Day', every single day, I have been Housebound without support, often cannot
walk at all, can hold a thought for 1-6 seconds at best & they Know it. They
have harassed the Hell Out of Me, No Legal Representation & a breach of Human
Rights. The DWP Lied, as did Atos, as I have the proof, and my MINIMAL DLA was
stopped in Feb. 2017 and PIP Denied same Date, the first several months the DWP
and Atos even denied me my Legal and Human Right to Tribunal. (Retract) I am
Calling For a FULL UN Public INQUIRY and Far More. They are Liars and they are
not even courteous, Scum of the planet. I am existing off an overdraft I cannot
repay, winter coming and bills I cannot pay, yet I worked and studied harder
than ALL OF THEM. They have no idea as to what it is like to die slowly with
severe disease and severe disability, nor do they care, (retract) There is NO
EXCUSE!!!

Hellsbells says:

October 20, 2017 at 07:41 PM

Subject: PIP and ESA Assessment

HORRENDOUS. This is my description of the whole process. My husband has chronic
mental illness and will never recover; his illness is classed as a lifelong
condition, with no chance of recovery. He has worked in the past, prior to his
diagnosis, however, is far too ill to ever work again. He's been assessed for
both PIP and ESA. The whole process made him more ill, more dependent on the
chronically underfunded mental health resources during the process. I as his
wife and carer had to take leave during to support him. I became very stressed
which impacted upon my job. Our relationship became strained which further
impacted upon both of our health, thus further drawing on NHS resources. The
ministers who made the decision to subject people with chronically ill people to
such CRUEL assessments are so far removed from 'ordinary people', who rely on
disability benefits to survive, have now created a BARBARIC INHUMANE process,
which needs to end. If you have a major chronic illness where you are socially
isolate, have already had the life you could of done ripped away from you, your
life is already CHALLENGING enough without forcing people to go through this
process every few years. End these assessments. Award chronically I'll people
disability benefits FOR LIFE.

Milly Gilbert says:

October 20, 2017 at 02:47 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

My
first pip assessment the assessor was lovely. She had an understanding of
chronic pain and I was granted the standard rate of pip until 2019. Claiming for
ESA however is a different story. I first made my claim in 2015. The assessor
was awful. She started 2 hours later telling me she was having a really bad day
and wanted to go home (it was a Friday afternoon) she was very judgement and
then I got a letter to say I had be turned down. I phoned up to ask why and
readying the letter and speaking to them she had made up lies about me saying I
was Capable of things that I wasn’t. I was so angry and upset and ha to rely on
my parents to support me who had their own money problems. I was too scared to
do the mandatory reconsideration and because I had new illnesses since that
claim (I started going blind as I discovered I have too much fluid around my
brain) I was told to re-apply. This time I went with my dad. Again I had another
rude judgement assessor and this time I was put in the work programme. I had to
to courses and go to meetings every other week which when you’re sick like me
and have days your struggle to get out of bed and you have to take morphine it’s
not fair! This April I had another assessment and this time they tried to turn
me down however I was put in the work programme for another year. Again the
assessor was awful. She called me a liar. She didn’t believe that I have anxiety
problems and she said that I faked not having any knee reflex’s when she tested
them which meant I was faking how much movement I had. Now I’m sorry but you
cannot fake knee reflex’s! And people with conditions like mine don’t have knee
reflexes or have little reflexes. I didn’t fake it. This system is a failure. I
have over 10 chronic illnesses. No 1 or 2 illnesses but over 10. Yet every year
I have to be assessed for them to turn me down or put me in the work programme.
Every year my health gets worse. I’ve had to move out of my house because it was
unsuitable for my health. I couldn’t get up the stairs any longer and it was too
far away from town for me plus it was over crowded which made my migraines bad.
I cannot work because my health is so bad. If I could would I would. I would
love to be able to work but it’s not physically possible. This system is failing
me and people like me. I shouldn’t be getting turned down every year and I
shouldn’t be put in the work programme every year when I can’t get out of bed to
go to meetings. The assessors are rude and they all need re training when it
comes to chronic health conditions. The stress the whole process causes me every
year its beyond a joke. It sets of my anxiety and makes my depression worse. My
migraines get worse because I can’t cope with the stress. Someone needs to
recognise there are people who are actually sick who will never be able to work
again (including young people like me) and that there should be a better system
in place.

kim hassan says:

October 20, 2017 at 02:41 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I
had recently claimed PIP higher rate mobility and lower rate care, I went to my
assessment 1 year earlier than my claim ended the assessor did not ask me any
questions about how my walking affects me, I believed at that time, because they
had all the medical evidence previously that was the reason for not asking any
questions. A few weeks later I received my letter telling me I had nil points
for both elements, I was utterly gobsmacked. I asked for a reconsideration and
sent it off, I waited for around 3 months than rang DWP on a Friday morning, I
was told this had been sitting on the file but had not been looked at and
someone will look at this as soon as possible, I could not believe I got a
response the following Tuesday morning, this shows me that my recon was not
looked at with any real thought or checking all or any of my medical records, I
was turned down initially by letter on November 30th, to date I am still
awaiting another tribunal, the reason I say another is because I had some years
ago gone through a tribunal service when I had claimed DLA, whilst waiting for
my claim to go through the appeal process the disability advice officer advised
me to apply for PIP which I did and had a home visit, I was awarded higher rate
mobility and the lower rate care, 2 years later I am back to square one, having
to beg, worry and try and get on with my daily life, my husband had become my
carer during my last 3 years, we have lost a lot of help we struggle to deal
with all this unknown pressure daily both mentally and physically. DWP are
having such negative impact on people's life, the appeals process is so long and
the impact it all takes on my life is negative.

heather morgan says:

October 20, 2017 at 02:16 PM

Subject: ESA Assessment

Even though still on crutches having physiotherapy to regain movement needing
care to do personal and household requirements dreaded the medical assessment. I
knew even before they rang me to say I could no longer get ESA they would take
me off ESA as I talked to some very severe people more ill than I was and they
were taken off ESA how are people supposed to work when they are so ill it
beggar’s belief. I find it patronizing to hear this governments response to the
ill and disabled people they are forcing off ESA, caring I don't think so where
is the care and support I have not found any.

Elizabeth Nesbitt says:

October 20, 2017 at 07:01 AM

Subject: PIP Assessment

After being on an DLA middle rate care lower mobility. I helped a friend who
suffers anxiety; Narcolepsy and Cataplexy make her application. She waited weeks
and got a home visit, the assessor was vile to the point of abrupt, my friend
had a full blown panic attack and wet herself. She shook for about 20 minutes,
all the time he kept firing questions at her. I asked if it would better if he
allowed her to calm down before asking questions she clearly couldn’t
understand. I recorded the assessment on my phone from the point the he said to
her you’ve got a lovely for someone on benefit!! I pointed out she had worked
for 45 years in local government and suffered several bereavements in close
proximity bringing on the anxiety. In a nutshell she was given 0 points!! But
the system won she was so embarrassed she will not appeal etc...

Sarah says:

October 20, 2017 at 06:09 AM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I
am disgusted at the way the whole assessment process and PIP assessment system
how they attach points to certain activities or tasks one can undertake and in
fact the whole entire PIP criteria and decision making process altogether. It is
not designed in any way to assess conditions such mine which is neurological
based/ varies from day to day, month to month and is extremely complex interims
of symptoms physical, emotional, psychological and biological. My experiences of
form filling and attending the medical assessment are that of disappointment and
disgust as well. I was honest and open in when trying to answer the difficult
questions asked which with regards to my conditions were irrelevant and not
intended for conditions like Narcolepsy, cataplexy and its impact. It was almost
as if everything I had written or was telling them hadn't be read or heard or
took into account. The whole process made me severely I'll and depressed and by
the time I had gotten to the appeal process, due to the nature if my conditions
also, I had no energy or fight left in me and was so poorly and depressed with
it all I just gave up.

Rita Gannon says:

October 20, 2017 at 01:25 AM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I
have fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis for 4 years I work as a cook 40 hours a
week , I tried desperately to keep my job but after 2 years I lost my job
because I was unfit to continue to work , my first assessment I was refused pip
the second assessment was a nightmare all the questions, I cried the whole time
and did my best to answer but I was getting confused my whole body was shaking
in side and to make matters worse the judge sitting in the middle kept falling
asleep and again I didn't get pip, I have an illness that makes it impossible to
work and I loved my job, a professional doctor diagnosed me for these illnesses
and I question his diagnosis which I think is awful and disrespectful, I'm at
home every day in a lot of pain and other symptoms I am lucky if I get out once
every 2 weeks or sometimes 3 weeks, I didn't ask for these illnesses, I
definitely need financial help so I can try and get out more to support groups
instead. I'm stuck at being very lonely , also at my assessment I left feeling
worthless and I can't shake it off so please try Change the way you deal with
assessment as no human beings should have to go through a nightmare of an
assessment.

Ruth green says:

October 19, 2017 at 06:08 PM

Subject: PIP Assessment

I
have just had my pip assessment; I was given 1 working day notice for my
appointment. , The examiner did not take my problems into account and wrote a
report not taking into account the medical evidence I supplied although it took
the assessor 45 min to read these documents before being called in after waiting
the 45 min In waiting area. I feel I am being discriminated against because I
still manage to work and this was commented on in the report although I struggle
to do this & without my Motability vehicle & blue badge I will have to
reconsider this position. The examiner got very agitated when I could not
perform a requested task but in the report quoted that there was no problem. The
report the examiner wrote was like a different assessment to the one I had. The
assessor also followed me to my vehicle.
So now I have requested a mandatory reconsideration & I am now waiting again, I
find this all a very stressful process & now I have to give my vehicle back and
don't know how I am going to get to work once this happens as I am not able to
use public transport due to my foot & back problems although in the assessment
this was not taken into account as I can read a bus timetable . Not very people
friendly at all .

PS. The above cases have been selected from a list that goes well over 2000!

'Freemasons said to be operating secretly in
Westminster'

We've covered the Mason's several times, and
it's not unusual to find them in Government at all, they're in the Police and
Lawyers, and have been for many years. This new report suggests they are
or have been subverting political agendas, and there is a call for them to be
forced to register their memberships in the Westminster bubble. It tells
us there are primarily two Lodges for MP's, and the New Welcome Lodge has 30 to
40 members, whereas the Gallery Lodge has 45 members. Another Lodge, The
Alfred Robbins Lodge has just 18 members. The secret mystery has always
surrounded this particular group, just as the Templar's in the dark halls of the
Legal profession, no-one is quite sure of the power they have or what influence
they use, but it is a fact that some nasty tales have emerged by this lot, and
it cannot be dismissed by the scoffers who want you to believe they 'do no
wrong'

' PORTSMOUTH COUNCIL RELUCTANTLY PAY OUT OVER ABUSE AT KIDS HOME '

PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL has agreed to pay out
compensation to 19 claimants who were abused at the Cosham Children's Cottage
Homes from 1947 to 1971. A leaked memo gave city solicitor Michael Lawther
permission to pay the group up to £92,000 - £3,000 each plus £35,000 legal fees.
The solicitor Anne Bevan for the council said the payout does not mean they
accept liability for what happened. The campaigners only wanted an
apology, but ended up with a two year battle to get Portsmouth council to
recognise what Council Care had done in the past, how it ignored the situation,
and it was trying to ignore the abused yet again.........Incidentally, the Lawyers in this affair made
sure the payout would mean that the claimants sign away their rights to any
further legal action.................here is more on this story, a story that
Portsmouth would rather go away.

' JUDGE HELPS PORTSMOUTH COUNCIL AVOID ITS
DIRTY PAST' --- What comes next is a scandal in which the Crown helps a
council to cloud the issues and have a selected judge sidestep child abuse in
favour of a libel case and CPS orchestrated involvement to suppress 'Portsmouth
Child Abuse' In the 1950's when Portsmouth was being praised
as a place of great Historical importance as a Navy City...another piece of
History was being denied and covered up by members of the council. The
abuse of children at 'Cottage Home' run by the council and it's investigation
revealed that no-one was going to be charged! The case of
'Councillor Hancock and Cummings' (libel case) helped that tight wedge to be
opened despite the judge trying to take the emphasis away from that
evil....Cummings wanted justice for that abuse, he'd been one of those children
and he wanted justice which the judge was anxious to deny him throughout the
hearing....which was at the expense of the past...the judge preferred not to
have the details or reports of sexual abuse presented even though they figured
in the case....it was not to be discussed as far as Judge Callaway was
concerned....even when a council was up to its neck in the sordid affair that
ruined children's lives. The council during those years were receiving
pleas and reports of council officials hindering and dismissing reports of
abuse...some were engaged in it too. 21 men and women who were children at
the time say they were abused and some others just vanished at night, never to
be seen again. Carers and staff would take boys out of the rooms to use
for their own gratification, to hurt them with punishment or sexual acts.
Certain un-named council figures would turn up and chose a boy or girl and they
had to go with the so called 'important visitor' said one of the survivors who
is still campaigning for an apology from the council. Because some of the perpetrators were in
their 90's the law allowed them to go free...with the CPS approval....and this
included one individual who had been arrested, (now in her 70's and living
in Wales). The Legal Department
at Portsmouth actually advised the council that there should be 'no apology
given' for what had happened to the children at the 'Home' This was to
limit the compensation, which you can see at the beginning of the article
(solicitor Anne Bevan for the council was quick to explain paying out meant they
were not sorry or liable)...they wanted to pay out as little as they could
....or nothing. The case went against Cummings...but not unexpected...it's
not unknown for the right judge to be picked for a case!
So we are presenting the case they dearly want to bury.

In connection with the above we found this
item --- 'PORTSMOUTH COUNCIL CENSURE VOTE ' -- Councillor Mike Hancock was
arrested on allegations of indecent assault - Oct 2010 -- Portsmouth solicitor
Michael Lawther warned councillors of contempt if anyone prejudiced a trial. The
Internet features several pages on the Mike Hancock affair which have not been
challenged -- and Portsmouth council do not come out smelling of roses!

THE MIKE HANCOCK CASE RE-EMERGES AS WOMAN
LAUNCHES CIVIL ACTION -- HAMPSHIRE was yet again thrown into turmoil, and
Portsmouth MP Mike Hancock seems unable to shake off his past.....although the
allegations of assault were more or less thrown aside by? May 2013 has now
brought him accusations of sexual misbehaviour and an
interview he said he wouldn't attend, and did so, with the Lib Dem leader and
Chief Whip.... in his TV appearance he accused others of waging a war against
him and said he would not be bullied out of his job. The matter arises
from the 2009/10 allegations that he groped a woman and exposed himself...but he
was never charged. However, despite this, the woman has now launched an
action for damages against him in the High Court. She was recently
interviewed and told her side of things, those being 'that Mike Hancock was
'arrogant' and that she was not his girlfriend and never felt good with him even
though he bought her, and her 12yr old son, presents......she said she never
wanted a relationship with him...it was him that pursued it'

THE MIKE HANCOCK CASE -- Update, Twists
and turns in this long running saga that has gone on for a period of two
years....... It now appears that the Lib Dems have suspended Hancock, and the
Portsmouth Authority also decided to 'hide' a report and not publish a document
commissioned by the Portsmouth City Council. And not do so until the High
Court Case was over, but the woman has now requested this leaked document for
her case and rightly so. Nigel Pascoe QC said the woman's version of
events were 'credible' and that there was evidence of 'Serious and
unwelcome sexual behaviour by the MP'

ASSAULT ON REPORTER - MIKE HANCOCK'S SON --
The son of Mike Hancock was arrested for assault on a local reporter outside
Mike Hancock's house in Fareham.

Update: Mike Hancock's son was found guilty of
assault -- he was given a 200 hour community service order and was told to pay
£3,000 in compensation to the journalist he attacked.

THE MIKE HANCOCK CASE: Since losing his seat
in the 2014 elections, Mike Hancock has apologised to his victim and admitted
making her feel abused. The news said he confessed to 'a inappropriate
relationship with a female constituent' It stated that in regard to the
court case, he had made an 'out of court settlement'

' PORTSMOUTH COUNCIL IS FINED AFTER FAILING THE ELDERLY '

PORTSMOUTH COUNCIL was fined around £15,000 by
the local NHS Trust for failing to find enough beds for elderly patients in need
of care. The council came up with various excuses for their failure to
meet the problem including blaming families.

PORTSMOUTH COUNCILLOR JEZZ BAKER faced a 27
hour investigation by police from the serious and organized crime unit over
corruption allegations. He was arrested after he took money to support a
planning application. The City Council Planning Officer was arrested for
corruption following accusations of dishonesty within the council's planning
committee -- it soon became apparent that council staff and the Council Legal
Department began a cover-up that would distance themselves from Jezz Baker -- it
went so far as to the Hampshire Police making pretence of the fact they had
arrested the 45 year old for corruption in public office and declining to say
who it was? when it had already been established. The Chief Executive of
the Council rolled out the usual denials and said they were assisting the police
but could not comment further. Councillor Steve Wemyss gave out 'the
innocent statement' much expected by this council.

JEREMY JEZZ BAKER was jailed by the court for
12 months for taking a £500 bribe...obviously innocent?

' FIRM TAKES COUNCIL TO THE HIGH COURT '

PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL was served with
proceedings for money owed to them. Social Housing Co. Mears is suing for
£151,858 concerning repairs and decorating. Lawyer for the council Michael
Lawther said ' It will not assist the process of our ongoing
discussions for the council to comment on matters that are the subject of
negotiation. Steve Wemyss, councillor was demanding for more transparency
when dealing with public money.

That word 'TRANSPARENCY' -- Lawyers don't
believe in it and neither does the Government.

' Portsmouth Council found guilty of
Maladministration '

MALADMINISTRATION -- Failure of carrying out a
required duty, a misfeasance in public office -- for those who don't really
understand the word. The Local Government Ombudsman was alerted to the
following case against the council and after due consideration found them
guilty...the party affected by council misbehaviour was offered the meagre
compensation of £200 which they refused. Indira Chudasama wrote many
letters to the City Council, many requesting information under the Freedom of
Information Act. She was being harassed by noise, late parties and
anti-social behaviour. The council replied by trying to belittle her in
her attempt to have things clarified saying that certain fees would have to be
paid for administration in order for them to answer questions put by her...so
mail went back and forth with no end in sight -- they were playing the game of
'ignorance and wasting time' She sent in reports of the
ant--social behaviour which the law advises to be kept and written about --
these were all ignored. She made an official complaint in 2009....which got her
nowhere. In desperation she contacted the Ombudsman who had no hesitation
in finding the council guilty of outrageous behaviour (much of this perpetrated
by managers and staff at the council).

The Council replied to the findings later
admitting there had been a wrong done, James Hill the Portsmouth Council Housing
Manager said they had identified the problems? (the council being the first one)
--- Miss Chudasama turned down the £200 compensation and said the council needed
to learn a lesson from the awful treatment they had showed -- that's all she
wanted. The council never learned a thing from this!!

' COUNCIL IN MORE SECRECY '

PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL tried to suppress news
that its own social club for employees was worse than any low cafe, it was
lacking the basic sense of hygiene. The council is supposed to uphold
standards, but instead it tried to prevent the information coming out. It
revealed dirty floors, rotten shelving and freezers not being monitored that
contained risk food. Out of date bottled beers, cracked utensils, and a
fridge.

The council has been 'congratulating itself'
for being at one with the DWP and Benefit Fraud Agency misleading its residents
into believing it plays on a straight bat. The council says it will not
hesitate to take action in order to protect public funds! Rather laughable
really, and it stinks of corruption --- corruption they say does not exist in
Portsmouth Council. We can prove otherwise -- we had one of our team go
undercover to obtain information posing as a resident. They were told to contact
Freedom of Information and state in the request what they were looking for.
The request for info on how many people on staff had been sacked for misconduct
and any other similar offences more serious was suddenly passed to the Legal
Department. They denied that such information existed, but were eager to point
out that ' if such information was available they wanted to know what it would
be used for before handing it over (at a cost) and there was another fact --
they could refuse to supply the supposed information and they still wanted total
control so that they could have it stopped being used under their ruling of
'confidential and subject to approval' -- which rather defeats the access of
such information when they can deny use of it, which means a Cover-Up and not an
ounce of transparency from this cynical council. The Freedom of Information Act
said that accountability was assured but it left out the bit about ' Only some
bits are available'

' FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL
'

We came across this dedicated site who were
publicising corruption cases in the council at Portsmouth, and thought it only
right we should feature it. PO12BG Fighting Corruption in Portsmouth City
Council has expired according to a notice (the domain fee has not been renewed
or something worse) We would like to access the information that it had so
we appeal for the owner of the site to contact us -- so if you are the owner of
that site, please contact us via our Investigator Richard at his e-mail address
on our home page.

'Portsmouth Council accused of 'Ripping-off'
Charity Shops '

Councils across the UK have been accused of
scandalous behaviour --- one is Portsmouth Council (plus Gosport) by the
Association of Charity Shops who say Hampshire is a major contributor to this
state of affairs. They say Portsmouth Council is acting against the law by
making charity shops pay waste disposal costs, and goes onto accusing them of
'overcharging' A Spokesperson said 'it is wrong for these councils to take
money away from these needy causes and it is utterly deplorable to act in this
way' Portsmouth were accused of using 'delay tactics' rather than
scrapping the fees.

' Residents 'betrayed' by Portsmouth Council over
new houses '

PORTSMOUTH RESIDENTS VENTED THEIR ANGER with
Portsmouth Council after new homes in Warwick Crescent, Somers Town, were
allocated to other people! The residents said they had not been considered
saying the 'wrong people' had been given the homes. They met with
Councillor Steve Wylie at a meeting. Some of the residents said they had been
waiting up to 12 years for new homes, and they were just as needy!

' Was
Portsmouth Council and Ombudsman in Cover-up over Land Development?'

Keith Edmunds feels strongly enough to point
out that the Local Government Ombudsman system covered-up and assisted
Portsmouth City Council in a 'Maladministration' case (the second one so far).
It began in 1993 when a wealthy developer with all the 'financial appeal' that
the council liked, applied to develop an area of land in West St/Broad St. The
application was eagerly supported by Portsmouth Council -- which had two High
Court cases pending in 2008 against them concerning 'planning corruption' and
irregularities -- according to Keith who researched this information well.
He also managed to see an Architect's report on file about the site which stated
that the development did not meet the 'light requirements' of the BRE -- and in
order to meet it would mean that the whole development would have to be scaled
down. He applied for a copy but staff turned this down, but with
persistency he finally obtained that and entered it into 'evidence' with his
complaint to the Ombudsman. What followed this was countermoves by the
council, subterfuge and mind games -- application denied, application granted in
a seesaw battle until the council pushed it through, yet nothing had changed in
regard to the light requirements, they were determined to get the developer's
plans implemented....Mr Edmunds officially complained and accused them of
committing perjury and the Ombudsman of aiding and abetting the council....the
council still refuses to admit their wrongdoing almost saying 'come and prove
it' knowing that they can shield the necessary partners in crime and withhold
paperwork by claiming Crown Privilege knowing they have a solicitor who is
handsomely paid by the taxpayer to do the dirty work that is necessary.

NB: Full details can be seen on Keith
Edmunds web pages; and if you type in Portsmouth Council Corruption.

' STUDENTS UNION ACCUSE PORTSMOUTH COUNCIL OF
DISCRIMINATION'

THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL STUDENTS UNION has
accused the council of outright discrimination against students. Union
President Godfrey Atuahene says their new policy is unfair and is actively being
used to discriminate students by limiting the number of students in shared
accommodation in an area to ten percent which will have a massive impact on
where students coming into the area will be able to stay economically.

'Portsmouth Council try to use the law to cut the
vital services to the needy '

Redefining the law so they can save on money,
Portsmouth council chose to cut services to the less well off in society as they
were easy targets and complaints from them would be easily tossed aside if
challenged. But this didn't go according to plan when the Council made an
application to the court to terminate help for those in sheltered housing.
The judge turned down their application despite the council offering the
explanation that the changes would not have an adverse effect on those who
needed it. Judge Jarman QC ruled that they had a duty to provide the
service under the 1995 Act, and to maintain the services at the present
standard. He said the failings in the council case presented were serious enough
to quash the application and told them to reconsider their position. This
council makes big claims of caring for the vulnerable.....but apparently not in
this case!

A REPORT has revealed that council staff were
sat at their desks going onto facebook when they should have been attending to
council business. It was said that more than 400 hours a month were
snatched out of the work timetable. A spokesperson for the council said
that it has now been banned from the workplace.

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL said 46 employees had
been discovered spending more than an hour on the Facebook site eac